My Mother was a rose.

I  adored her.

We held her hands and we sang her praises of love and devotion as she slipped away peacefully at home.

It was an exquisite Sunday.

Frank sang a Fijian Farewell song and I sang childhood songs in Hungarian.

I’ve been quiet ever since.

I’ve given time to seep in her immense love for us that she left behind.

I admit I have taken my time to bring forth this news publicly. Some of you have reached out sensing the news in my silence.

I wasn’t ready.

I’ve given lots of days to writing her obituary. What an extraordinary life she had. I mean it. I keep remembering so many amazing things about her talents and accomplishments. She was a visionary in the culinary world opening restaurants with astonishing dishes decades ahead of trends.

I’m still proofreading the obit and I’ll share that when it is complete. I’m taking my time on that too perhaps in the make belief that if I don’t finish it she isn’t really gone…just like out of town or something.

I suppose there will be lots of make believing in this grief process.

I didn’t know I could love someone so much and I’m going to hold tight to her memory anyway I that I am able. It is that love that I will paint with for years to come.

It was the most marvelous honor to be her daughter.

I thank you Mom.

Travel well.

Forever Yours, Andrea

Buda Castle on Castle Hill (Várhegy), the historical royal seat of Hungary. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site which was first completed in 1265 and now contains the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. Castle Hill is where the Belatini family lived.
Baby Paulette with her mother, Elizabeth Belatini, the nurse nanny and her only sibling, Maria in 1934.
Paulette on a family outing at the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden.
A local photographer thought my mom looked like Shirley Temple. For a number of years photos of her appeared in the local newspaper.
Paulette and older sister, Maria with their grandmother, Renee Otvös.
Paulette's wedding day marrying Laszlo on December 29th, 1954
Laszlo's brother, Vilmos Fono and her brother in-law, Zoltan Stacho acting as witnesses at St. Anna Templom
Paulette with her baby, Andrea in San Francisco, 1965.
Anniversary Picnic, 1992

The family invites you to post your memories of Paulette at our blog page.

Paulette at her Gelateria Milanese Restaurant, Bravo Fono, at Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, Californina, as appeared in an article in Sunset Magazine, 1980.