Susan

Years ago my fathers youngest sister had a beautiful baby girl. She was cute, charming and a little sweetheart, the apple of her father’s eye!

My brother and I, along with other cousins, would tease her older brother that he would have to take her to school with no hair. It took a spell before her beautiful blond hair took root and became the shimmering glow surrounding her face. Back then, her mom would pull it straight up and tie a little ribbon around the few strands; eventually the ribbon would be lost.

She was a decade younger than I, so she would follow us around, making a nuisance of her little self. We said we minded but not really. Everyone would always comment on how cute she was; her clothes were always the best and I think, as the youngest of the grandchildren on my father’s side, the favorite of everyone in the family. Was she spoiled? The answer would be: Just how much :).

She has two beautiful daughters and a beautiful granddaughter and a handsome grandson. o Her oldest daughter looks exactly like her, a compliment to the oldest daughter. Her youngest daughter looks like her as well, however, there is a likeness to her mom and to me, because I favor my dad and her mom, his sister. This is a compliment to the youngest daughter as well, because Susan’s mom was pretty and funny with a quick sense of intelligence and wisdom. Not that you ever knew for certain what she was thinking.

Susan was unfortunate in love; the first husband died; the second husband died and the third husband died. I use to think that divorce was like death. When examining our separate lives, I now understand the difference. Death is a definite closure; divorce is closure without the finality which death brings. With divorce there are graduations, weddings, grandchildren….all to share. With death, these special moments cannot be shared no matter how strained the situation. The children have both parents.

She doesn’t complain; she is bright, funny and loved by  many…those who know her best; we talk often and I still pick on her at times; she is family and one I can count on to give me her honest opinion, good or bad..a give and take that is unusual between cousins at this age; we have become much closer in later life than the life we lived in the “between” worlds of raising children, losing husbands and then parents and for me, siblings.

She shares this birthday with my grandfather, Pop Luther, the gentleman with the lovely white hair and bright blue eyes until the end of his life; cancer wreaked havoc; he never had any treatment and died with kidney failure at the ripe old age of 87. Pop Luther farmed. The one memory that keeps coming back to me is seeing him in his favorite rocker leaning forward toward the smoldering fire. His dresser was used by my father and now it is one of my proud possessions. (in the background left)

Two birthdays…two “keepers”….

Happy Birthday, Susan!

Remembering a proud grandfather…