Mushroom club and Marie-Christine

Last September, four months after my arrival in France, Richard and I just happened to catch the last hour of a local expo on mushrooms. We agreed to go, expecting to spend 20 minutes or so looking at whatever specimens were on display. I thought there might be a buvette or something featuring local food made with mushrooms. But what we found was much much more.

I was totally surprised at the huge variety of mushrooms that the club had gathered in only 2 days! There were about two hundred different kinds of mushrooms, all arranged neatly by family and color. Besides the chanterelles and porcinis, I saw many new shapes and colors, even vivid purple, green, and flourescent mushrooms. Roger, the co-president of this club and also the mushroom expert for our region was there with his microscope and mycology tomes.

At this expo I met the club's secretary Marie-Christine who answered my mushroom questions and welcomed me to join them on their next sortie. I jumped at the chance to go on my first ever mushroom foray. After that first sortie Marie-Christine added me to the club's email list and Richard and I were both invited to every single outing and meeting.

Marie-Christine and the others took me under their wing..perhaps it was my enthusiasm for learning. Or my youth because the rest of the members were in the 60s and 70s. Or the fact that I usually arrived at meetings with baked goods. Whatever the case it was, it doesn't matter because I was happy that I got to know them. I later found out that you can't just join this club...you're invited at the request of the members. Knowing this, I feel extra warm and fuzzy knowing they adopted me.

This past Friday's wild orchid and pink butterfly walk went as planned despite the shocking news that we lost our friend Marie-Christine on Thursday morning to cancer. She was 60 years old and in good health and doctors discovered the cancer too late, after it had metastasized.

Marie-Christine was a kindred spirit...we had become good friends very quickly. With some people I feel like we've known each other forever. She was one of those kind of people who made you feel welcome, who opened her heart, and shared her passions. For MC, her passions were her family, mycology, speleology, and genealogy. 

She welcomed me into the mushroom group, tutored me, and despite my broken French and her broken English, we got along like the best of friends despite our age difference. MC, I will always remember your positivity, good humor, and laugh. Thank you.