Tribute

This is a short tribute to Louise Robertson, Peter’s grandma, who passed away this weekend. She was the perfect grandma, always concerned about us staying warm, fed, and comfortable. She called us regularly no matter where in the world we happened to be. I already miss her interview-style questions about our lives, her genuine curiosity and attention to detail. When I was away at graduate school she wrote me regularly, her barely decipherable handwriting--on beautiful notecards usually with Audubon-style avian scenes on them--asking me about life in Alabama. She read the magazine I edited, Alabama Heritage, even though the articles in it had nothing to do with her life in Idaho, just because she was proud of what I was doing. When she started to lose her eyesight, we spent more time on the phone with her and she made us describe the world around us in a level of detail that sometimes seemed ridiculous, but succeeded in making us note verbally the beauty in the things we were experiencing. She was the last one we wanted to tell we were moving to China, but even though she was as worried about us as only a grandma could be, she was excited for our adventures and I think truly enjoyed our stories from the Far East and also the descriptions of the normalcy of our life here: what we had for dinner, the amount of blankets on our bed, the color of our bikes. Hours before she fell ill I was describing to her the inside of the spa we go to in Shanghai--the skinny Chinese girls, the rose water pools, the TV in the sauna--and she was interested in it like it was the most remarkable place in the world. She was nothing but pure goodness to me and Peter and loved me like family. My heart is broken at the thought of losing her phonecalls and thoughtful gifts. She was one consistent presence in our ever-changing life, and I already feel a little unsteady knowing she is gone.

Peter is home in Idaho with his family, and I am feeling farther away from home than ever, so I needed at least this public space to mourn Mimi’s passing, remember her kindnesses, and wish her restful peace.