We Share the Same Grandmother

Growing up in Newfoundland, Canada, the daughter of an Archaeologist, Robin L. Tuck was immersed in Anthropology from before she could walk. Interested in world cultures through space and time from an early age, she obtained a BA from Memorial University in Physical Anthropology in 1991, being interested in Paleopathology and Human Evolution, and minoring in Russian Language and Culture. Shortly after, she had her only child; A little girl, Elke Sunshine. Elke was challenged by Epilepsy and Cortical Visual Impairment. Robin raised her as a single parent and was faced daily with challenges of her own as no medical specialist could give explanation to her daughter's delayed development, so she drew from what she knew-Physical Anthropology-to help her daughter develop. She home schooled her, exploring beaches, lagoons, and hikes of Martha's Vineyard where they resided. They often lit backyard fire pits and played 'hominids' getting Elke's dolls out and making carrying pouches for them. They wove shelters from vines and grasses around the property to play in. Because her daughter had few close friendships the two did everything together. They hosted a local chapter of Roots & Shoots, through the Jane Goodall Institute, winning awards for their local work protecting and cleaning up the environment as well as being honoured for starting the youngest group ever- 4 year olds, indeed the Roots & Shoots movement started a whole preschool program due to Robin's work with the very young. They even got to lunch with Jane Goodall. Their favourite time together however was telling stories. They read folktales and fairy tales as well as moral tales from world religions, and of course made up their own. Robin worked on a Masters in Vision Studies at UMass Boston after finding out from the Low Vision Clinic at Perkins School for the Blind that her daughter had a neurological visual impairment -CVI. She specialized in this within the program, and her daughter volunteered for several MRI'S for research of this condition. In the summer of 2019 Robin was devastated by the loss of both her daughter and father six weeks apart. She now keeps the love and energy of them with her in her stories which always have pieces of them woven in. She says the stories help to keep them close to her heart and she misses them everyday. She hopes her stories bring children and adults alike together to look into each other and see themselves. One of their most favourite songs was Turn the World Around by Harry Belefonte, and that was how they embraced life, Robin hopes to carry on that spirit in her works.