it's 2:15pm, and I know that any minute now mimi will be here to pick us up. like clockwork, she arrives in the white honda (a.k.a. the "mimi mobile") and we quickly jump in. each day our routine is the same. drive by the baseball field, packed with an assortment of hunky high school boys, and slump as low as we can below the car windows and pray that no one hears the classical music blasting from the car stereo.this is just one memory i have of mimi. some of my fondest memories are the afternoons spent in the comfort of her living room, watching old rodgers and hammerstein movies like south pacific, bye bye birdie, gigi, ooooklahoma!, the music man ("i love the music man!"), and my all-time favorite, 7 brides for 7 brothers (haven't heard of it? you should). during these afternoons of movies and snacks from trader joe's, I was introduced to a whole new genre of film where superbly choreographed dance routines and singing about "cockeyed optimists" was the norm. the fact that i can (and will) sing the lyrics to "happy talk" (don't forget the hand movements!), is a testament to mimi and her love affair with musicals (a love affair that she passed down to me and jenny).
reading was another love of hers, and she instilled in us an appreciation for libraries and literature. i can remember spending an entire summer at the south pas library reading books to earn ourselves enough "points" to obtain nifty (absolutely useless) toys and gadgets. i think this is why jenny likes the smell of library books so much :)
these, and so many more, are small reminders of the impact she had on our lives. she gave howard his name, had an affinity for loons, cactus, and blue-colored anything. what i love and will miss the most about mimi is the comfort and contentment she found in seemingly simple pleasures like reading, writing (i will miss your letters), or spending time on the "catio."
the more i reflect, the more i remember, and the more i realize how empty certain areas of my life will be without her.
today i woke up to the news that she was gone. she had passed away in her sleep just as i was sleeping in a bed 2,000 miles away on an island in the middle of the pacific ocean. i can't say for certain that it's hit me. the enormity of her absence is almost too much to consider, but i take comfort in the fact that she is at peace. wherever it is we go after we die, i'm sure it's a better place, made all the more better because mimi is there now.
i miss you mimi (and i meant what i said in that postcard i sent you when i was 12 - "you are the best grandma ever! but don't tell the other one")
love you more than tongue can tell, always and forever...be seeing you :)
Dear Katie,
ReplyDeleteYour writing of your Mimi brought tears to my eyes for several reasons. Although my last grandparent was gone by the time I was 10, I grew up in a family in love with books and musicals. My sister Chris and I can sing you lyrics from dozens of musicals. I too loved The Music Man: "Marion..madame Librarian..." comes to mind as I sit here.
Our lives are made richer through story and song. And taking time to write your memories of your dear Grandma will cement these stories.
Your writing made me think of my Dad, too. When he died in Feb. 2002, each of his five children wrote from his/her perspective of growing up as his son or daughter. Being oldest, I was privileged to gain more insight into the work he did as director of the Honolulu (and later, national and international) YMCA. He worked to bring gang leaders together to dialogue with police officers, to empower alienated youth to believe in themselves and stay in school, while giving them minibikes to ride and learn to fix (through a partnership with Honda), and to find ways to combat racism and sexism. His work influenced my degree in Social Work at Whittier.
Yet his time playing touch football at Niu Intermediate School or hiking the hills behind the school, teaching us to bodysurf at Bellows or telling stories around the campfire at Camp Erdman are what formed me and who I am today.
May your memories of your grandma live in you always. Please give your Mom my condolences. Your family is so dear to me, and is in my thoughts and prayers.
Aloha no, Lee
Absolutely beautiful. I feel so lucky to have been a regular rider in the mimi mobile, slumped in the backseat as we passed all the hunks! I have so many wonderful memories of spending time in mimi's house, playing all our silly games, dancing, our Princess Di memorial, Christmas Tree trimming, and so much more. Mimi was such an exceptional woman and I think of her often when I care for my own (mini) succulent garden, notice my kitty lazily resting, watch a musical and most of all when I want the strength to speak my mind and "Tell it like it is." For me, Mimi was all this and more, along with being one of the kindest women I have ever met. I will love and remember her always.
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