September 3rd. On this day in 1783, the American Revolution officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. In 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. In 1966, the final episode of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” aired. In 1967, Swedes began driving on the right. In 1989, Chris Evert defeated Monica Seles to win her last US Open singles title. In 1995, eBay was founded. And in 1955, my husband’s cousin S was born.
Unlike my family, D’s family is very small – he has just one sister and two cousins. D and S were often mistaken for siblings. They were close friends.
S was a formidable presence, a strongly opinionated, accomplished, intelligent woman. She was an excellent ice skater, tennis player and bridge player; she was a four-time Emmy Award winner and a national producer for a network news program. She married at the age of 40 and gave birth to twins when she was 42. She was the consummate producer, both in her personal and her professional life. Her skills failed her, however, when she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in the spring of 2005. No longer in control of her life, she still fought as hard as she could, all the while hoping for the best while planning for the worst. She died in August of 2007, just a few days shy of her 52nd birthday.
I was intimidated by S. She could be a tough nut to crack. I never knew when something I said might anger her. But with motherhood, and then illness, came a softness, a reaching out, an acceptance of love and a giving of it in return. The last Christmas she was alive, although wracked by pain, she bought me a gift because she wanted me to know how much she appreciated me. It’s a simple hairband, which I use every night to pull back my hair when I wash my face. I think of her a lot.
Life is short, we all know that, but in S’s case, it was really short. She missed out on so much. But if she was thinking that while she grew more and more ill, she never let on. She almost never complained. She just let us know how much we were appreciated and loved. And she kept moving forward.
Happy Birthday, Susie.
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