. >> ryan girgis was the baby of the family. spoiled rotten by his mother ariet. >> we couldn't function without my mom. my mom was like the chef in the household, counselor. >> the full service mom. >> oh, yeah. she was really, really nice, a sweet lady. >> she was one of those mothers who showed her love through food. her cakes were legendary. making every birthday that much more special, says her older son richard. >> she made this really good upside down pineapple cake. it was phenomenal. i always remember cake and ice cream at the birthdays. >> growing up, richard was inseparable from his mom. was she like the other moms your friends had? >> no. i think she was more on the conservative side. >> conservative because of where she came from. ariet girgis was born in egypt and then came to the u.s. when she was 29 years old. her family settled in northern california. ariet led a comfortable all american life. but cultural ties are strong and in 1980, ariet was called back to just a minute, to egypt to meet a nice young man. mag