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Showing posts from December, 2013

Madiba and Ms. Robinson

Ms. Robinson on our wedding day Just as the world and South Africa will be forever grateful for Nelson Mandela - or Madiba, as he was affectionately called  - I will be forever grateful for Ms. Gruine Robinson. She also passed away this week at 95 years of age. Ms. Robinson was another who lived for ideals greater than herself. She gave voice to those who had none and amplified their words for all to hear. She did so without regard for acclaim, and for this she earned her place in the hearts of friends who came to accept her more like family. This was how she became an honorary grandmother to my wife, teaching her English upon arriving in the US from China. Patiently and dutifully, Ms. Robinson was there weekly after school, with exercises and games to bring life to the rules and grammar of an often befuddling English language. Sometimes, those sessions included Disney movies like Aladdin , which explains why the regular trips we take to the Magic Kingdom are a kind of pilgrima