Happy Birthday to one of my Mums

Teresa and MaeveToday is my mother, Teresa’s 60th birthday. She’s an excellent parent, friend and mentor, and her party on Saturday night was so good people left the gig upstairs to crash our shindig and boogie to my brother Rowan’s excellent playlist. The party theme was Mods vs Rockers and Teresa rapped her thank you speech (complete with backing track) chronicling her life’s highlights & challenges. There was weird dancing. Where Teresa goes, there’s always weird dancing. Following the speech she shared celebratory tequila shots with a couple of her kids and the young people who’ve lived at her house.

My sister Grainne and her partner Hayden made 6 different cakes! A rainbow layer cake. Orange almond cake. Flourless chocolate cake. Passionfruin sponge. Baked cheesecake with toffeed blueberries. You haven’t lived til you’ve bitten into a fresh blueberry encased in hard toffee. Holy shit. The bar tab had no rules so my sister smashed a shit-ton of martinis, we tried to do acrobatics then fell down.

My brother DJed an excellent mix of Dolly Parton, Blondie, 60s & 70s hits with a smattering of stuff too cool for me to recognise. He responded well to our chants of ‘MORE BRITNEY’. He and I performed a medley of songs about England Teresa sang while we were growing up. My Old Man’s A Dustman was particularly well-received, as was Jerusalem.

Testament to their maturity, growth and love for their children, my other Mother, Louise was also at the party (they split 10 years ago). She could be found on the dancefloor with her top off. When I suggested she put it back on her mate Dinah flashed me her boobs in protest. Bear in mind both Louise and Dinah were designated drivers. aka sober.

My mum’s friend, Mystery, who used to be lead singer of a feminist punk bad took the stage for a surprise song then hauled my brother up for a duet. Viv, my ex-girlfriend who lives like a fairy in Teresa’s backyard, took photos.

The party was packed with wonderful people and joy, all a testament to the community Teresa has built over her 60 years. The moral of this story? I love my family, Happy Birthday Teresa, here’s to many more. xxx

Read her 55Upitty profile. She taught me that if people aren’t telling your story, you better tell it yourself: http://55upitty.com/2012/04/18/teresa/