Ten-Finger Exercises

Mickey Mouse Grandma

Mickey Mouse Grandma died this morning. She was 69. Her hair was short and curly thanks to chemo. She died of metastasized lung cancer that had metastasized to her bones and brain. She wasn't in pain, surprisingly enough.

MMG, whose real name was Janice, had lived in a small town in Oregon and had gone to bat with the city council to allow them to let Wal-Mart build a store there. She was very excited and became a proud Wal-Mart associate when they opened.

Janice's mother had an original Mickey Mouse watch which she gave to Janice before dying herself. From then on, Janice became a collector. She had roomfuls of MM collectors' items, her daughters told me. They had pared down the number of items in her room in the nursing home during the week before she died. She had not been able to speak and did not appear to be aware of anything but, we hope, the presence of her children and grandchildren.

Last week there was still a Tiffany style lamp with Mickeys on it. At 3 o'clock this morning, she was covered by her Mickey Mouse blanket and had a MM Kleenex box beside her bed. Her daughters plan to check with the local cemetaries to see if any will allow a Mickey statue holding a plaque for her gravestone. Many of the Wal-Mart associates have donated for some sort of Mickey memorabilia for her grave.

I'm really sorry I never got to know her. She sounds great.