Remembering Susann (A Serial Story) CHAPTER TWO Those less familiar with her circumstances cannot fully understand or appreciate Susann’s capacity to do without simple basic necessities, even gladly so, if it meant that she could thereby give a treasure, like a toy monkey or Legos set, to a child on their “special day”. Susann was intrepid in the ways she managed to finance these extravagances—long layaways, tiny payments on credit purchases, or other schemes that flirted with fiscal fiasco. Her budget often shipwrecked on these rocks of woe; one of life’s more difficult lessons for her to learn. It seems natural to recount chapters in her life, titled by her exemplary character traits: Generosity; Courage; Empathy; Humility; Loyalty; Kindness; Unconditional Love; Moral Goodness. One has to leaven all that virtue with Sue’s quirky habits of hoarding, and her prolific habit of filling notebooks with recipes, medical appointments, check stubs, clippings of newspaper articles, eden-like cutouts from vacation brochures, Photoshop’d pictures of improbable fruit from seed catalogs, and more, all in random order and heavily taped for durability. I have no doubt that these scrapbooks had a deep personal meaning for her. How can the corners of my mouth NOT twitch upwards when remembering Sue’s joy when receiving her sundry gardening and seed catalogues in the depths of winter? No promise of paradise could hold more expectation than to see her dancing eyes look transfixed at their colorful promises. Her hoard included a department devoted to odd boxes of “free” seeds and bulbs, “samples” and unknown widgets, balls of string, unsorted coupons, order blanks, and clippings from past catalogs. All of this comprised the fertile mulch of hope from which her garden would bloom. In my mind’s eye, Sue still sits by the window in the weak winter sun, enduring her dialysis, with spring’s promise as a distraction from pain. (To be continued…)
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 15:30:43 +0000
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