My Nana’s Copy of Life of Pi

This is my nana’s copy of Life of Pi. When I last saw her in 2014, we were cleaning out her house and she told me I can take whatever books I wanted. I took this one — not because I wanted to read it, but because I had a distinct memory of her bringing this down to Florida to read while she stayed with us. My nana suffered from a stroke in 2014 and had to move out of her old home because she was paralyzed. My nana didn’t change much after that. She still loved being outside, learning, and getting her hair done. I remember her nails always being an iridescent dark purple/red like the wine she always had with dinner. I remember before her stroke, she always made sure to take me on walks after dinner and occasionally I’d go with her to church the next morning. She told me to always use lotion and make sure to wash under my nails. She lived in Canada and would come once a year to visit us before her stroke. As a kid, she always brought little gifts like picture books and my favorite Canadian cereal, shreddies. I was supposed to fly all the way from Florida to Vancouver to see her last year but because of COVID, I couldn’t. She hasn’t seen me since I was fourteen. I was different the last time she gave me a hug. I was shorter and my hair was dyed brown. I wore too much makeup and I didn’t want to leave Canada. I wish I could’ve seen her one last time. She may have never physically lived here and my times spent with her were limited to two weeks, but losing her feels like she’s been here the entire time. And now she’s not. I’ll probably keep this book forever, with her bookmark of my brothers preschool photo in the place that she left it. I know this is personal but my nana loved my bookstagram and my blog so much. She read my blog constantly. I think she might’ve been the only one who read it so often. I’ll miss her so much.