Monday, March 15, 2010

70 and Beautiful

On March 3 my mom turned 70 years old and that weekend, we celebrated.

Pretty much just short of a full-on wedding reception, we threw her a party to be remembered, but more importantly, to celebrate her and her amazing voice. We invited 200 of her closest friends, re-decorated the church basketball court, served up 25 Korean dishes with the help of the Korean Branch and hired a sound mixer to record the music she would sing that evening.

My mother sang seven songs in the chapel and she directed the Korean church choir in six songs. I always look forward to hearing my mom sing and that night, her voice filled the room. She was flawless and she sounded as clear as ever. She looked like she could not have been happier and the music seemed to flow through her. She is truly happiest when she is singing.

Had I not been so preoccupied with dealing with a finicky video projector, I may have had my wits enough to know to set up a video camera and record my mom. Unfortunately, all I got was this, but I guess it's good enough:


For a look back at her life and everything she has accomplished, I made this little video for her. Unfortunately, I was limited to what I could do creatively as I didn't have the right equipment to really do what I would like to, but this seemed to suffice. (The audio is a little quirky. You should be able to hear background music throughout though my voice may be a bit loud.)


It was an amazing, though tiring, night and everyone had a great time.

We even hired a lady to turn the church gym into a wedding hall. It's amazing what people can do with a sewing machine and imagination!

As for the dress I picked...well, after much discussion and modeling, I chose the black Ralph Lauren. Everyone was actually very pleased with the plum Ralph Lauren and it was almost a toss-up, but what it came down to, was the shrug. It just didn't look quite right, and with three shrugs in the house to choose from, it didn't seem like we would find one that would work.

So with only an hour to go before the party was to start, my sister and I ran to the mall. With very little time and an array of choices, we quickly grabbed these smokin' hot, beautiful, ruby red, BCBG "peep-toe" pumps and some jewelery that made me feel like a Christmas tree.

Good news is: mission accomplished! My mom approved. I looked very pretty and I was feeling very tall. Whether I was white enough or not, did not come up for discussion. Since there were no complaints, I will assume she was satisfied.

I do remember a comment from Jennie wondering how "tall" managed into the equation, well, looking at the pics of me amongst my family, I am kind of the tall one, even without heels. Erik is just barely taller than me, but other than that, I am pretty much the one they call on when they need to reach something on the top shelf. It feels kind of cool sometimes to be that person.

(In this pic is Kimball, Denise, Erik, Mia, my Mom, my cousin Sam, Rachel, Me, my aunt, my dad, and my Uncle)

8 comments:

Hang said...

thanks for sharing this with me.
i didn't know your mom can sing..she really has such a great voice. love it. well done on a second video! great opportunity to learn about your mom.

Erika said...

Did you guys do one of these for her 50th too? I seem to remember going to something similar when I was a little girl

Erika said...

ok I just watched the whole video and am (almost) crying! what a beautiful tribute to your mom!!!
We have ALWAYS loved the Oh Family!!

Emily said...

your mom is truly talented! I'm glad there was some recordings! did anyone else record? Truly wonderful! Tell her your blog following loves her!

dana said...

Miriam, I loved this post. Your mother's voice is amazing. I'm so glad we could hear her sing. And you'll laugh, but our whole family sat down and watched your video together. Casey and I were just sitting at the computer and one by one the kids came in and sat on our laps. I guess they liked the music too!
anyway, great job on the video. Really cool. and what a wonderful night for your mom. I'm sure she loved it.

Unknown said...

Hi Miriam - Kyle shared your blog, this is absolutely wonderful! Your Mother has an amazing voice and when I listened to her rendition of the Lords Prayer, it brought tears to my eyes, it was beautiful! She also looked so pretty as did the decorations, wow! I liked your outfit, you looked pretty too, your whole family looked very happy, it must have been a wonderful evening! Again, I'm so happy I was able to see and "hear" your Mom!

the Rew Crew said...

Miriam--beautiful job! I'm sure your mom loved the evening.

Good dress and shoe choice too!

Jennifer Lovell said...

Your mom's voice melts my heart. I loved hearing her sing, and hers is the kind of voice that moves me deep inside. What an awesome thing to be in her family and to get to hear her sing your whole life. Lucky you! Thanks so much for sharing that beautiful tribute.