In this book the key point of the story is the relations between Mickey and her favorite grandfather, Pipere. Their relationship is delicate, understanding, extremely emotional, and highly influential. By taking walks in the sunrise, shell-finding escapades, silent, pensive instances, and acts of mild direction, Pipere centers the childhood of Mickey in such a way that it determines her whole life. The book is a masterpiece in bringing out a universal fact, which is the legacy of grandparent-grandchild relationships is strong, enduring, and in many ways, some of the most held relationships that a person takes into adulthood.
Since the very start, Pipere turns out to be more than a loving figure in the life of Mickey, he turns out to be her anchor, her teacher and the one who makes her know the world by being curious, patient, and with a sense of wonder. The symbolic nature of their intergeneration love is the daily walks in the Maine shore in the morning, which represent the greatest form of love: simple, silent, and meaningful. Pipere does not teach Mickey any long speeches and rigid lessons. Rather, he learns by example, giving her an opportunity to learn by watching the tide that comes and goes, watching the clouds that change and the little gems she finds buried in the sand.
This is the point of it all, their capability to teach without coercion, love without strings, and mold the values of a child without any school lessons. Mickey, through Pipere, gets his lesson on the need to take his time, take pleasure in the small things in life and enjoy living.
The fact that Mickey starts to realize that Pipere is aging is one of the most touching elements. As the time goes by, she can acknowledge and understand his slow pace, his cautious moves, and the delicate vulnerability of time. Yet their bond only deepens. Mickey adjusts to it, extending her hand to lift him on the rocks and walking slowly with him rather than on her own speed. The change of their relationship eloquently demonstrates the process of change of the love between grandparents and grandchildren, how the person who used to be nurtured becomes able to give something back.
The emotional climax of the story is reached when Mickey comes home in France where he brought a handmade pipe as a present to his grandfather. It is her means of respecting him, relating with his culture, and is a show of recognizing his impact on her life. The readers see how distressing the beauty of their relationship is when she discovers the same pipe held in his hands at his funeral. It is apparent that their relationship has its legacy that spans over time.
Nevertheless, loss does not conclude this book. Rather, the heritage of Pipere sprouts in the following generation as revealed in the book. When Mickey gets to be a grandmother herself, she is strongly drawn to go to the Maine seaside, the very place where her relationship with Pipere was shaped. Here the real generational strength of their relationship is manifested. Mickey takes her six grandchildren to the beach with a hope of making them receive the same experiences that influenced her spirit.
Mickey, with her actions, is now the reflection of the legacy of Pipere. She takes over his role and continues his teachings not by lecture but by taking part in them: walking early in the morning, making modest observations, laughing, and performing rituals silently. And their grandchildren are unaware but they are entering a family of love, one made by Pipere, reinforced by the mother of Mickey, and now trickled into their hearts by Mickey herself.
The most symbolic scene is when Mickey finds the pearl-handled knife of her mother hidden in a cabinet of the kitchen. The object acts as a physical reminder that family legacies do not go dead but stay in the most unlikely places and are still kept by time to be rediscovered by the ones who come back. It reiterates that relationships between grandparents and grandchildren are not merely emotional, they are historical, generational lines, which bind families.
The friendship between Mickey and her grandparents is further enhanced when Mickey sees her own grandparents playing in the beach. It is a lovely illustration of how generational love does not cease; it still lives in the realms of things that grandparents did, that are still practiced in ways, customs, and beliefs that are passed on by the grandmother to her granddaughter and now Mickey to her own grandchildren.
The book does well to pay tribute to the influence of Rene in inculcating the idea of family upon Mickey. Although Pipere explains to Mickey discovery, patience Rene explains to her about warmth, gentleness. The two influences merge and shape the basis of the Mickey character, a basis which she further transfers to her grandchildren in their journey back to Maine.
The scene in the book which is the most emotional is when Mickey is gazing up and notices a halo-like cloud drifting over the beach which symbolizes the existence of both her grandparents. Although the halo itself is a symbol that makes the viewer think of the watchful spirit of Pipere, it also brings back to mind the comforting feeling of his love that Rene offered to help the traditions that Mickey now shares with her grandchildren.
Written in partnership with Tom White
