Pauline's big 50!
Published:Friday | August 31, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:Pauline Smith absolutely loves the colour orange. However, she switched the colour palette on her friends and fellow Leos with a party invitation that read: 'An All White Affair.'
More than 100 guests celebrated with her at the Eastwood Manor in the Bronx, New York, last Saturday night. Smith appeared at her 50th birthday party in white, but like a bride at her reception party, changed her attire to her beloved orange.
Within an hour of arrival, Pauline Smith left the room. She reappeared minutes later on plush, red carpet accompanied by fireworks and staff members of the manor.
Kelly Clarkson's A Moment Like This, welcomed her spectacular entry as her daughter Alexis Kerr and son Michael Daley escorted her on to the dance floor for Boyz II Men's Mama.
Smith, a single parent, danced with her son, who is studying medicine at Pittsburg Medical School, while her daughter Alexis, a pre-law student at PACE University, looked on.
"She is like my twin sister," Alexis Kerr admitted, while showering her mom with words of adoration. This was the woman who stood with her when the winters were cold beyond recognition, the mother who nursed her back to health when she suffered bouts of kidney disease.
"She taught me how to be independent, how never to depend on a man. And yes, she is controlling, but I would never swop her for another mom," said Alexis.
Her son Michael, the quieter of the two, spoke of a mother whose love was incomparable, a testament to what a wonderful person should be.
Smith's mother Ilene Taylor spoke of the rough and tough times her daughter had, while friends such as Lorraine Mitchell lauded her as a caregiver whose dream in life was to take care of children and sick people.
"God knew what He was doing when He placed a rose among thorns. God bless you, because life really begins at 50," said her special friend George Thompson.