Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 9-11-15 Edition

All About You! Celebration
Happy Birthday
JUANITA HOWARD 9/7
Happy birthday!
Love, Curtis J. Hudson.
SHERYL And DEBRA 9/8 And 9/9
CURTIS J. HUDSON 9/10
Siblings Host Surprise 75th Birthday For Tampa Mother
Mrs. Tommye Lee Miller is shown with her daughters, from left to right: Wanda, Sanita, Mrs. Miller, Sharon, LaVora, Mary, and Carrol at the birthday celebration.
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Mrs. Tommye Lee Miller is the mother of seven young children when she be- came a widow. But, through years of struggling to make ends meet, all of her children reached adulthood and have become productive members of society.
Mrs. Tommye Lee Miller stands beside her cake at her surprise birthday party.
As a token of apprecia- tion, her children came to- gether to host a surprise birthday party for her. The celebration was held at the Loft in Brandon.
Daughter LaVora Ed- wards said, “The hardest part was keeping it a secret. After it was over, my mom said, ‘I’m gonna get you all for lying to me.’ But, she was so surprised.”
The surprise party came about after the siblings were talking and trying to decide what to do for their mother’s 75th birthday. Once they de- cided on the event, a sit down dinner with some of her clos- est family and friends, the next step was keeping it a se- cret.
Mrs. Miller’s actual birthday is September 9th, so they decided to have it early as part of the surprise.
Unfortunately, her only son, Choice Miller, Jr., who is an active member of the U. S. military, is stationed in Kuwait, and was not at home. Three of the seven sib- lings have served 20 or more years in the U. S. Army.
Ms. Edwards said as the
party came together, the fam- ily decided to cook their own food rather than have the restaurant cater it. So every- one was assigned a task. “She actually ended up cooking the greens for her own party be- cause she asks so many ques- tions.
“When I told her I was going to cook greens, she wanted to know for, I told her the job was having an event. She ended up cooking the greens herself.
“I was glad it worked out that way because my mother is very picky about what she eats. So I knew that if she cooked the greens, she wouldn’t have any com- plaints,” Ms. Edwards said.
“We celebrate her birth- day every year, but this was the first time we ever did any- thing on this scale and she was so surprised. It was a lot of work, but I’m glad that it was a success.”
In addition to having all of her daughters there, several of her grandchildren, great grandchildren, other family members and friends were on hand to help Mrs. Miller celebrate her birthday.
PAGE 4-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015