A little about my grandmother
Hi all. My grandmother died this week. Royal Holiday is dedicated to her, which I got to tell her before she died. She was so happy about it. She said "My name will be there, even after I'm gone." I didn't realize when she said that that she would be gone just a few days later, but I'm really glad we got to have that conversation. I thought a lot about her as I wrote the book, and there are bits of Vivian's story that are hers too; especially the part where she found a great love when she was in her 50s.
I get my love of lipstick from her; she put on a full face of makeup every day, except for the past few years, (there's a family story that she put on a full face of makeup while she was in labor with one of my uncles before she went to the hospital, which I would think was apocryphal if I hadn't known her). When I was little I would sit next to her and watch her make up her face, and she would dot a little beauty mark on my chin in the place where she had a mole. Then one day a mole appeared right in that spot on my chin, and it's been there ever since. I get my love of taking baths from her; she took one every night for as long as she could. She started taking painting classes when she was in her 40s or 50s, and became an incredibly talented painter; she was also an accomplished knitter, and made me sweaters as a baby, and then blankets for the rest of my life. She was very proud of me, I loved her very much, and I can't believe she's gone.
My grandmother was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and it's been strange and wonderful and difficult to be in the midst of The Yellow House this week. The Yellow House is Sarah M. Broom's incredible, absorbing memoir that tells the story of her family, the house she grew up in in New Orleans East, and what happened to her family and the house because of Hurricane Katrina, and also because all of the other structural problems in New Orleans and America. It's a truly wonderful book, and I hope you all enjoy it.
Have a good weekend, friends. Eat some food with some people you love.
Jasmine
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