In the pictures I have seen of my mom when she was a little girl, she was always very well dressed. While I would never call Susu fancy, she clearly took great pride in presentation and knew how to dress her daughter well. An excellent seamstress, I’m pretty sure she sewed each of those beautiful dresses herself. I was lucky as a little girl to get to wear some beautiful dresses that Susu made for me. When people would compliment my dress, I would proudly say “Susu sewed it!” The phrase stuck and my mom even had tags made that said “Susu sewed it” to put inside my dresses.
Not only did Susu sew, but she made all sorts of beautiful things with her hands. My Santa cookie jar that she painted is a work of art. The dish cloths she knit with her hands are staples in my kitchen. I might argue that one of the most beautiful things she made with her hands was her potato salad, but that’s just a personal opinion! So many of my memories of Susu seem to be around her creating, crafting, and sewing things – helping my mom hem a dress or sew a costume or knitting sweaters and hats for each of my babies. Susu sewed it!
Isn’t that really a pretty accurate description of her life? She took all the joys and heartaches of life, the good times and tough times, and sewed them together. She sewed them with strength and smiles, with a little bit of worry, and lots and lots of love. Susu sewed together a pretty awesome family and a wonderful long life that we were all just lucky enough to be a part of. Susu sewed it.
