I’m not sure how she did it but she did. My friend Susan managed to spread her sparkle of joy wherever she went and with whoever she met.
Her tagline, motto, actually her whole essence was “Choose Joy, Bless Others” and that she did every single day!
She also believed that “Until Further Notice Celebrate Everything ” preferably with a glass of Champagne and a smile.
She was a writer, an exceptional speaker, and a friend to many.
Even with todays climate of perpetual bad news and anger she rose above it, smiled and opted to choose joy and when she did she blessed you.
Our birthdays were one day apart in early January and if we connected at no other time we did then to celebrate the awesomness of being a January gal.
I wanted to write that the world is a little dimmer since last Tuesday when Susan went to fly with the angels and spread her sparkle in heaven but in reality it is not true because her sparkle of joy remains.
It can be found in all the memories we have of her, how she made each one of her friends feel honored and like they were the only one in the room
It was in her little touches that made me feel special when we got together. A personalized welcome sign on her front door, her undivided attention, her encouragement to me to keep writing. Her love of fresh flowers, vision boards, her view of the Mississippi River and the love of her life Denny.
She gave a speech about two chairs at a convention I attended. I can’t remember the exact content of the speech but I’m pretty sure it was in the context of “Come sit in this chair beside me, I set it out especially for you” In other words you are always welcome to come sit by me for I will always have two chairs.
Ever since that speech I can’t see two chairs without thinking about her and wanting to invite others to come sit by me in my extra chair.
Maui 2004
She even wrote a speech about the joy of canning tomatoes with her friend and did a small scrapbook about it. I remember her saying her sister commented “Only you could make a scrapbook and a speech about the joy of canning tomatoes”
I have never met anyone who touched as many lives a she did. She loved to gather women together and celebrate, oh I don’t know, because it was Tuesday. It didn’t matter. It was enough to celebrate whatever was right there in the moment.
In all honesty I was a very small part of her life but she always made time for me and made me feel special and I will treasure that forever.
I’m sure she has two chairs in heaven and there is a long line of people waiting to sit down beside her as she chooses joy, and offers the blessing of her sparkle.
So here’s to you Susan, glass of champagne in hand, two chairs and the promise to carry on your legacy of choosing joy!
Celebrating our Birthdays 🙂
As always, keep triing,
Jennifer
P.S. You will find a blog post here every Tuesday, except this week mainly because once I wrote this I knew it would feel more real. How lucky am I to have been a small part of her joy! So grateful.