Goodbye to Andee

Photo by: Andee Carlsson, the Gardener in Mexico

I've just read some very, very sad news. My good friend and blogging-buddy, Andee, from Chacala, Mexico, has passed away from what is believed to be a stroke. Her son was kind enough to write to let me know.

I'm sure that many readers know Andee from her blogs. She had a refreshing viewpoint and never hesitated to speak her mind.

She was, in fact, the first person who I 'met' through a blog. Although we never met in person, I considered her a good friend and felt like we had known each other forever. I helped her with some of the technical aspects of blogging as best I could and she helped me in other ways. Probably more than anyone else, she inspired me to start blogging.


When I first discovered blogs, I wrote to her through her Gardener in Mexico blog to talk about tropical gardening. Later that same night, I found her My Life in Chacala blog and was planning to 'introduce' the two Mexican expatriate gardeners to each other when I soon discovered that they were one and the same person.


During the time that I knew Andee, she went from not even owning a camera to being a really fabulous photographer. If you haven't seen her blogs, I think that you will enjoy her photos of plants, people, and colorful Chacala as well as other parts of Mexico very much. The photos in this article are Andee's.



Andee's son Erik has said that he will maintain her blogs online and I sure hope that he will, both as a tribute to Andee, and as a helpful guide to those wanting to learn more about life and gardening in Mexico. I'm sure that she would want that. She often talked about what a wonderful son she had and so looked forward to his visits.


Erik also said that Andee spent the last years of her life being where she wanted to be and doing the things she wanted to do. I know that is true. She did many kindnesses for the people of Chacala and I'm sure that she will be missed there more than anywhere.



Goodbye, Andee. May you have peace, and rest knowing that you were loved by many people in many countries.






The photos in this article are from Andee's blogs, Gardener in Mexico and My Life in Chacala, Mexico and are included as a tribute to her.