Mamie

On early Sunday morning, 31 December 2006, our beloved French grandmother Mamie passed away in her sleep. Mamie was among the most gentle-hearted and loving people any of us have ever known and could ever hope to know. I can not remember a time when she didn't have a smile on her face and something sweet to say about a member of her family. She enjoyed nothing more than the company of her children and grandchildren, save perhaps for the incredible love that she had for our grandfather. Theirs is a history of tenderness and romance that rivals any fairy tale, and for more than 60 years they were completely inseparable and hopelessly in love.

Though we were apart for most of each year by thousands of miles, we always felt that Mamie was right there with us, following our successes and achievements through her many letters and telephone calls. We were fortunate enough to spend almost every summer with Mamie and Bon Papa, and I could have spent a thousand more with them and it still wouldn't be enough.

There is no easy way to express how much Mamie meant to all of us and to everyone who knew her. In every look and every touch she shared with us, she communicated without any words how deeply she cared, and the measure of that love goes far deeper and means infinitely more than any words I could write in this space. My only hope is that we as a family can honor her legacy by continuing to love each other and our children, grandchildren and other generations as she loved us, and in that way her spirit will live on forever.