Our friend Shamamta celebrated her 90th birthday over the weekend. She’s the matriarch of some good family friends and I was lucky enough to be invited along to hang out, eat some great food and snap some photos of her family and friends at the happy occasion.

In my favorite photo from the day, her daughters take their mother to the sanctuary of the Church of the Transfiguration in Southfield, MI.

Birthday girl Shamamta arrives to her party with her adult children.

Let the party begin. Here’s to Shamamta’s first 90 years.

Shamamta makes her family smile during a quick portrait amidst a sewing and snack backdr … err, SNACKdrop.

Sometimes you need a little extra reach to get to the buffet.

I loved how the slideshow of Shamamta’s life — an avid sewer — was projected on one of the guest’s coats.

Shamamta’s oldest daughter welcomes another guest. All afternoon there was so much love, hugging …

… and laughter.

Yes, there were enough chairs for everyone. Though sometimes they doubled up.

Like mother …

… like daughter.

A three-handed hug

Taking a picture of a picture being taken .. if someone took my picture at this point, it’s possible we would’ve broken the Time/Space continuum.

Speaking of breaking the Time/Space continuum, the youngest guest appeared twice in my panoramic.

Shamamta beams during her party. I understand why; it was such a beautiful afternoon.

Rodney Curtis is a recovering journalist and author of four books.

Check out Rodney’s books here.