I remember being a young doctor and  a couple of times when with Melissa, this was not always good for her! Once on a trip her arthritis was bothering her and I gave her a Celebrex.  We found out pretty quick that she was allergic to sulfa when she broke out with a total body rash.  The other time she had traveled and in the evening showed me her swollen leg (one side) and I made her go to the ER. She spent the night and no blood clot in the leg!  She was always such a good sport! Lisa

One of my favorite memories was when Mimi took me to Bolivia on an adventure with the Gesneriad Society. We ventured from what seemed like the top of the world in La Paz, all the way down to the Amazon basin.

Our adventure led us to paddle straw boats on Lake Titicaca, speak with street vendors peddling Sloths, sip on Coca tea, dine on Guinea Pig and bug pizza, and dredge through the jungle in search for new species of Gesneriads. We even drove down the most dangerous road in the world—we find this out after the fact of course.

Our favorite shared memory was when we got stuck driving across a river, and to avoid being washed downstream, we had to open the doors, to let the river run through the Jeep. Muddy and wet, Mimi still found a way to have a good laugh.

I'd never seen people or culture like that before, and I was always in awe of how fearless Mimi was through what were new and sometimes scary new things.

Mimi gave me an experience that opened my eyes beyond my small hometown, and was one of the most life changing moments in my life.

Here's a link to the obituary that went into the Sarasota Tribune on November 11, 2018.

http://www.legacy.com/obituar…

You can leave messages on the Legacy.com site as well.

August 19, 1990 - President of the Gesneriad Research Foundation, Melissa McDowell handing out volunteer awards to Em Woodfin, Virginia Langeland, Louise Harris and Linda Massey while Dr. Hans Wiehler looks on. We later added Jerry Trowbridge to the GRF family