My dear friend Jo (Josette Burbage) passed away on October 15, 2024. She would have been 94 on December 5th. I'll miss her.
She spent Christmas Eve 2023 at our house.
Jo loved being surrounded by the people she loved. We met in 2006 as volunteers for Amnesty International, sorting books together for an annual sale. We went to classical music concerts, sipped teas and shared stories. I'm happy that she met my family, including my Dad and Mom, at least once.
Once a week for the last few years, I
would go to her house for lunch, then write (often for this blog), in an office filled with books upstairs. As the evening approached, she would often climb up the stairs with some cookies she'd just baked, or try to get me to eat some other tempting sweets, or have a decaf tea.
Before going home, I'd usually play the piano for her, often Schubert or Mozart, sometimes Handel or Haydn. She adored music and could listen forever. She even took a photo of me playing the piano, printed it out and stuck it on the piano music stand during the summer when I was away, to replace me! She was my biggest fan.
Although Jo constantly tried to get Hubert to come over to have lunch with us, he only came a couple of times because he had too much work and lunch could be long, since for male diners her fare tended to be fancy!
Jo was a painter and, until recently when her eyesight wasn't as good, often spent the afternoons working on her latest project, like this scene from Monet's Garden in Giverny, France.
Death Announcement from Le Monde, 22 Octobre, 2024
Announcement in the Lycée International Alumni Newsletter (Jo taught English for 20 years at this school, where her children were students, as were mine, Julia and Dylan, years later.
My tribute for Jo (in French).
What a nice tribute to Jo, and I love the photos! I liked having lunch at her house the time that I went with you and spending time with her!