In A walk With Grandpere: Mickey’s Souvenirs, Maine seaside is no longer a holiday destination, it is the core of the childhood of Mickey and the emotional base of her whole life. The time she spends there during summers with her parents, her baby brother PJ, and more importantly, her favorite grandfather, Pipere, influence her set of values, her perception of family, and understanding of the most simple and meaningful moments of her life.
The lesson of slowing down is one of the initial ones Mickey acquires during her summers in Maine. She comes in at the age of seven hoping to have a good time and enjoy but as she soon realizes it is the quiet moments that are the magic. The habit of Pipere of getting up early in the morning before the sun shines is the core of her summer life. These morning walks, made at the time when the world is asleep, teach Mickey that sometimes the best things are the rhythmic beat of normal life.
Another strong lesson which is gained by the mere process of gathering seashells. Pipere not only invites Mickey to collect shells because they are good, but because they are curious, unusual or important. There are those that are smooth, there are those that are cracked, and there are those that are a fragment of something that was once complete. These little gifts make Mickey know that beauty is in a variety of forms. The shells she puts in her pockets become reminders of the times she spends with Pipere, she remembers that the little things we pick up on the way can have the greatest memories.
Mickey is another person who is taught the value of family traditions. Annually, the family goes to the same candy store to get saltwater taffy, take clambake picnics on the beach, and have a time together in tide pools and beach walks. These ceremonies although straight forward are incorporated in the identity of Mickey. These traditions serve as points of attachment, as Mickey grows older, these are what she looks forward to, turn to, and pin with her even when she has left Maine.
The other lesson is learning to embrace and value change. When she is older, she starts observing the fact that Pipere is old. The man who once strolled on the rocks with great ease now walks more slowly, bends on her a bit more, and steps more and more cautiously. Mickey learns to react to these changes with empathy, patience, and love instead of getting frightened or confused by these changes.
This is one of the most emotionally intense lessons when Mickey comes back to France with a handmade pipe, which he gives to Pipere as a gift. She chooses it very carefully hoping he will love it. This makes her realize that they were bound so closely together when she later sees the pipe in his hands during his funeral in a different and heartrending manner. The pipe is an effective representation of their bond and it reminds Mickey that love has a way of surviving loss.
The fact that Mickey came back to the Maine seaside as a grandmother is the start of the new lesson which is the beauty of passing traditions on. Her six grandchildren in tow, she goes back to the same cabins, the same beach and the same tide pools as characterized her childhood. The cabins are different, more modernized, yet the seashore is all as old as ever. As she sees her grandchildren racing up and down the sand and finding shells of their very own, Mickey is able to see that what she knew in Maine has gone round in a complete circle. Summers made her to be not only a child, but a mother, now a grandmother.
Among some of the saddest scenes in her coming home is finding the pearl-handled knife in a kitchen drawer belonging to her mother. This little trifle, which has not been altered by any passage of time, turns out to be a symbol of the continuity of generations which characterizes the story. It serves to remind Mickey that Maine is not only the place where she keeps her memories, but the parts of her mother, her grandparents and now, her grandchildren.
When Mickey and her grandchildren are strolling along the shore, she can sense the strata of peace on her. She is reminded of her childhood watching them pick up seashells and run on the sand and explore the tide pools. She can read the reflections of herself in their eagerness, and in the presence of her hand it is as though the ghost of Pipere was by her side
The book points to the fact that children tend to be drawn to those experiences that provide emotional intimacy as opposed to excitement and glamour. To Mickey, there is no big thing that can ever contest the kind of glow the sunrise creates on the smile of the grandfather or the manner in which he indicates some hidden secrets in the sand. It is these little experiences that define her conception of love much more effectively than any big party ever will.
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 wonderful tribute to the changing of traditions with every new generation and to the love of the family members. It is just a reminder to the readers that traditions do not remain the same all the time-they are to be developed alongside us, nourished by us, and be transmitted further on as a present to the loved ones.