“She ran ahead of the rest of the group, giggling, spinning, jumping around, and generally just getting very excited.”
If you knew Susie, you already know everything I am about to say. But these are my memories of the time I spent with her. Susie touched my heart deeply in the short blink of time I knew her, but this is for her, on the anniversary of the day she became the miracle she is.
My memories of Susie span over an entire year. I don’t have just one special situation that I can go back to and remember as worth telling. She touched my heart each and every day, without even knowing it most days. I often forget the instance in which I first meet a person, but not with Susie. I remember reading her name in the email that told me she and I would share a room that next September at Stony Brook. I immediately contacted Susie, so excited to meet her, even if I could only communicate with her through a computer for the time being. As we spoke for the first time, I felt so connected to Susie. We had so much in common already. We shared interests and even through the computer, she sounded so bright and friendly. I knew that our year would be really great. I wasn’t wrong.
One of the things we had first talked about that day, when we first met, was having dance parties. I think that Susie did this almost everywhere she went, music or not. One night Susie and a group of our friends were walking around campus. It began to snow, and she of course was wearing one of her adorable winter hats. She ran ahead of the rest of the group, giggling, spinning, jumping around, and generally just getting very excited. Whether it was because of the snow or just the evening itself, it didn’t matter: she was completely content, and her joy was contagious, the group in turn was laughing and shouting along with Susie.
I must have told Susie that I loved her multiple times in one week. Every moment she was around she was either trying to make us smile, feel better, or just have fun and I am so grateful for it all the time. I told people all that time that I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate. We got along so well.
I’ll never forget her undying love for ice cream at any give hour of the day or night. She absolutely loved her ice cream, especially after she’d had a good long night of fun. She would just smile and say “Ice cream?” that big bright Susie smile that was so infectious.
Susie was always there for her friends. Even people that weren’t necessarily her friends, she would try and talk to and console. I had a friend over the room, and was trying to talk her out of doing things to herself that could be harmful. When Susie came home, she immediately came to her aid and sat there talking for hours, helping my friend who she hardly knew. I think what Susie said might have really helped where I never could have dreamed of helping.
It’s thanks to Susie that I am friends with many of the people around me. Most of them were people that she collected in her travels through classes, work, parties, and anything she did. She had very little fear when it came to meeting new people. Susie was the queen of making connections with anyone and everyone, even random people. What is even more special, is that she never split her friends into categories. All of her friends were always tangled together, and she made so many friendships between other people that will be long lasting. My own close friends often asked about Susie and always loved when she was around.
Susie was dedicated to loving. Not just loving her friends and her family. She was dedicated to loving in general. She loved life, her friends, her family, and the world around her. Everything she touched will forever be changed for the better. Including me. Susie changed my life. I will be forever grateful to her.
I love you Susie, always. <3
