One of the strongest emotional lines in this book is the one created, as Mickey, now a grandmother, goes to Maine seaside. The location providing her childhood is transformed into the setting of healing, recollection and rebirth. Her coming back is not an act of nostalgia, a deep mission into her past, her heart, the silent teachings which led her since her childhood till adulthood.
To Mickey, Maine shore is not merely a vacation spot but it is the pulse of her childhood. This was where this little girl used to walk hand in hand with her grandfather, Pipere, before even the sun had come out. It was there where she was taught how to gather shells, which were more meaningful than any toy that was purchased in the stores. It was her home where she was safe, loved and knew things that only a child can know. Those memories come back to her when she comes back decades later, not like dim recollection, but like echoes, loud echoes that fill the air around her.
The curing starts the moment when she smells the salty air. Childhood locations have something that everything just seems right, as does the beach with Mickey; it is what makes her in touch with what was lost under years of responsibility, loss, and adulthood. As she wanders through the shoreline, she recollects that she was seven years old and curious, joyful, and full of wonder. These memories are what make her gentle up and assist her to reconnect with the simplicity which she used to experience.
The rediscovery is further enhanced when Mickey comes to visit the exact places where the best things of her childhood had taken place. She observes the tide pools that she used to explore with Pipere and find minuscule creatures and treasures in the water. She recalls that candy store where she used to purchase salt water taffy with her family. She knows the length of beach where she and her grandfather had their secrets, seabirds, and subjects of the sun as it rose.
Among the strongest scenes in the book is when Mickey is walking down the beach during sunrise. This was a ritual that used to be the core of her relationship with Pipere. He would rise her before the world awoke, and softly persuade her to get out of bed and walk in the early cool light to the beach. Their common practice was the sunrise, a sunrise that belonged to none but themselves. Mickey finds herself standing in the same spot a few years later and she experiences her grandfather being with her. The rising sun is no longer a beautiful phenomenon, but a phenomenon of rebirth, of a new beginning, of the immortality of love.
Another heart-warming scene is when inside the cabin that Mickey shared with her family once, she finds out something that took her back to her good old days; a belonging of her mother, this is something that she has not touched in decades. This mere discovery turns out to be a life-changing experience. It reminds Mickey that childhood places are not just about memories, they contain physical evidence of those who made us.
Mickey can also interpret healing as Mickey observes her own grandchildren at work on the beach, running through the tide pools, finding shells and laughing it all away. She understands that she is offering them the love and lessons she has gotten under Pipere by taking them to Maine. The beach is not just a place for fun for Mickey, it turns into a place where she once was with her grandparents, a site of the fusion of memories and the new impressions, a site of the strengthening of the generation’s ties.
The book has these little heart-touching scenes like when Mickey is gazing up and observes a cloud in the form of a halo floating over the beach that takes the readers back to their childhood. It is a faint message to her of the presence of Pipere, a memory of the fact that the people whom we have loved do not actually leave us. This scene provides emotional recovery, reassurance and spiritual connection.
The relationship of Mickey with Maine seaside starts when she is as young as seven years old. The family holiday in summer turns out to be a precious ritual, as soon as they get there. The cabins are salty and sun-smell-filled, the beach is filled with seashells to find and every morning the world is new and promising. Most of all, though, is her connection with her French grandfather, Pipere, which causes this place to be magical. They spend all the mornings of their lives together, holding hands and digging tide holes and picking shells on the cool and silent mornings. These dawn ceremonies are some of the most valuable moments on the life of Mickey as a child.
This book also has one of the most emotional points when Mickey glances up and sees a halo-shaped cloud floating above the beach. This quiet scene gives her the feeling of the presence of her grandfather, a subtle reminder that love does not know time or location.
A Walk with Grandpere: Mickey’s Souvenirs is a perfect example of how such small things are not petite, but are the strings of fabric that make a child have a different perspective on life and learn about love, gratitude, sympathy, and what the family is about.
Simple things, the walks with the grandpere at sunrise, the shells gathered at the shore, the picnics with the family, the breakfast together, are the bricks of building the happiest memories of Mickey in A Walk with Grandpere: Mickey Souvenirs. The book is a great way of reminding us of how children value something that is authentic, well-intentioned, and unemotional. Grand occasions might shine brightly on a single day, yet the mundane experiences that develop as a result of love become everlasting.
Written in partnership with Tom White
