Some of you may know that my real grandmother was in part an inspiration for the character Grandma Doris in my novel. You know all those funny things Grandma Doris says in the book?--well, my grandmother likely said something similar. My real grandmother died last week at the age of 96 after a couple of years of declining health. Grandma grew up in segregated Texas and married my grandfather "the paperboy" as a teenager. In the late 1940s she moved to the Pacific Northwest and the couple soon divorced. Grandma went on to raise three children on her own working as a domestic helper and managed to buy her own house. We laid her to rest last week with heavy hearts, but with the knowledge that she is now at peace and maybe she will finally find her "rooster" in Heaven.
I will miss my grandmother. Many of you got a chance to see her when she was introduced on Portland's Morning Show, or at many of my book events in Portland over the last three years, including the Everybody Reads event. If you didn't meet her, learn a little about her from this little video I made about her life. In the video, she reveals the recipe to living such a long life.
