Oh Suze!!! This might be my favorite..or 5 BEST pieces yve ever done!!! In my estimate!! I feel as though I’m there with U!!! I can’t wait for your book!!!🥰🌻♥️🌻🥰
Aw, thank you Tommye. You are going to be in charge of PR if that book ever happens - ha! Seriously, thank you as always for your love and support and glad you're along for the ride. Hope to see you soon! xo Susie
This is the first piece of yours I have read, and I’m hooked! Sounds like you are navigating the role of daughter to an elderly parent quite well. I know from experience it’s not easy, and as I get older, I try to remember what it’s like to be the child in the relationship. Thank you for the memory of Seventeen magazine; I would ride my bike to the grocery store to buy the latest copy. I miss magazines, as well as newspapers. I still subscribe to one magazine, although it’s not the same. But then again, neither am I after experiencing the internet.
Nancy, it's a whole new world, isn't it? Our childhoods seem like antiquity now - and it wasn't that long ago! Well, I'm so glad you've enjoyed your first post. I move around amongst different subjects but always try to stay grateful for the tools I've got (or am working on honing!) to deal with challenges. Thank you for subscribing!
Beautiful, and intensely, impossibly difficult. Eldercare is a game of whackamole involving the past, the future, self-care, their care, the medical world. All you can do is walk through it. 🙏🏻❤️
Another beautiful piece, Susie! And also: I, too, am not a flipper of magazines. I must read each page. And I feel the same about women’s magazines, having grown up with them -- Seventeen way before I was 17 and then Sassy, with which I became obsessed. I always thought I would pursue a career in magazine journalism, but I chose daily newspaper reporting instead (though found my way to women’s magazines much later as a freelancer).
It’s always a joy seeing your newsletter in my inbox. 💛
Fellow non-flipper! 😂 Thank you! I think you made the right choice Re newspaper reporting vs. magazine journalism, though both are fragile professions now. I’m so glad you’re enjoying sixburnersue. I just subscribed to your newsletter and am looking forward to it!
I can’t read this without thinking of the road trips I took with my dad in his later years. I wish I’d taken more notes, like you! We did a few sessions with a tape recorder to capture some of the stories—but of course after he’s gone I have so many questions I wish I’d asked.
And I know you had a big family, didn’t you, David? So there must have been lots of stories. Of course there always are - but even more from the way back times, before kids. It is weird to think of that history just disappearing when our parents go. I am glad you got to do some road trips with your dad!
this made me weep. thank you for sharing this with us. I felt it deeply in so many ways; with parents in their mid-80s the dance of holding on (controlling) and letting go is so hard but so necessary, for all of us. record his voice, as much as you can... my big brother just passed away at 57 and my lord I’m grateful I had saved his voicemail messages.
Mary Lynn, I’m so very sorry about your brother - and at 57! And you’re absolutely right, it is a dance with our parents - one with complicated steps that are difficult to learn! Please take care and thank you for being in touch.
Rosemary, thank you so much. Sometimes I use the writing as a tool for serenity so I approach it as simply and directly as I can. I am glad you can relate to this piece, and you’re right - the garden has done nothing short of keeping my dad alive these last few years. In July when it was too hot to go outside, he got very down. I am very fortunate now that my sister is retired and she is living right around the corner from him.
the pieces with your Dad in them are if possible on another level than the others and again i will be first to restack this remarkably nuanced recreation of hmmmmmm a day trip!!! so much to quote from here so ill pass....
Thank you as always Appleton! When it comes to writing about dad, it does seem like a slow-motion vignette is the way to go - nothing dramatic or particularly exciting, just capturing a bit of time with him.
Oh Suze!!! This might be my favorite..or 5 BEST pieces yve ever done!!! In my estimate!! I feel as though I’m there with U!!! I can’t wait for your book!!!🥰🌻♥️🌻🥰
Aw, thank you Tommye. You are going to be in charge of PR if that book ever happens - ha! Seriously, thank you as always for your love and support and glad you're along for the ride. Hope to see you soon! xo Susie
This is the first piece of yours I have read, and I’m hooked! Sounds like you are navigating the role of daughter to an elderly parent quite well. I know from experience it’s not easy, and as I get older, I try to remember what it’s like to be the child in the relationship. Thank you for the memory of Seventeen magazine; I would ride my bike to the grocery store to buy the latest copy. I miss magazines, as well as newspapers. I still subscribe to one magazine, although it’s not the same. But then again, neither am I after experiencing the internet.
Nancy, it's a whole new world, isn't it? Our childhoods seem like antiquity now - and it wasn't that long ago! Well, I'm so glad you've enjoyed your first post. I move around amongst different subjects but always try to stay grateful for the tools I've got (or am working on honing!) to deal with challenges. Thank you for subscribing!
Beautiful, and intensely, impossibly difficult. Eldercare is a game of whackamole involving the past, the future, self-care, their care, the medical world. All you can do is walk through it. 🙏🏻❤️
Whackamole for sure. And being present seems to be the number one thing - walking through it!
Another beautiful piece, Susie! And also: I, too, am not a flipper of magazines. I must read each page. And I feel the same about women’s magazines, having grown up with them -- Seventeen way before I was 17 and then Sassy, with which I became obsessed. I always thought I would pursue a career in magazine journalism, but I chose daily newspaper reporting instead (though found my way to women’s magazines much later as a freelancer).
It’s always a joy seeing your newsletter in my inbox. 💛
Fellow non-flipper! 😂 Thank you! I think you made the right choice Re newspaper reporting vs. magazine journalism, though both are fragile professions now. I’m so glad you’re enjoying sixburnersue. I just subscribed to your newsletter and am looking forward to it!
Thank you, Susie! 💙
You're doing great!! All you can do is love, support, empower, let go. My grandfather could touch his toes at 90. So impressed!
You’re right Alicia!
I can’t read this without thinking of the road trips I took with my dad in his later years. I wish I’d taken more notes, like you! We did a few sessions with a tape recorder to capture some of the stories—but of course after he’s gone I have so many questions I wish I’d asked.
And I know you had a big family, didn’t you, David? So there must have been lots of stories. Of course there always are - but even more from the way back times, before kids. It is weird to think of that history just disappearing when our parents go. I am glad you got to do some road trips with your dad!
this made me weep. thank you for sharing this with us. I felt it deeply in so many ways; with parents in their mid-80s the dance of holding on (controlling) and letting go is so hard but so necessary, for all of us. record his voice, as much as you can... my big brother just passed away at 57 and my lord I’m grateful I had saved his voicemail messages.
🤎
Mary Lynn, I’m so very sorry about your brother - and at 57! And you’re absolutely right, it is a dance with our parents - one with complicated steps that are difficult to learn! Please take care and thank you for being in touch.
So beautifully shared. I can relate to so much of your story, and your dad in is comfort zone garden. I’m always riveted by your writing.
Rosemary, thank you so much. Sometimes I use the writing as a tool for serenity so I approach it as simply and directly as I can. I am glad you can relate to this piece, and you’re right - the garden has done nothing short of keeping my dad alive these last few years. In July when it was too hot to go outside, he got very down. I am very fortunate now that my sister is retired and she is living right around the corner from him.
the pieces with your Dad in them are if possible on another level than the others and again i will be first to restack this remarkably nuanced recreation of hmmmmmm a day trip!!! so much to quote from here so ill pass....
Thank you as always Appleton! When it comes to writing about dad, it does seem like a slow-motion vignette is the way to go - nothing dramatic or particularly exciting, just capturing a bit of time with him.
Tender and kind, your writing (and your father) is a delight.
Aw, thank you Ellen. He would love your gardens!
Precious!
❤️