But one thing that I won’t forget was her smile; she was so welcoming!

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I know that I didn’t know Susie very well; I knew her somewhat. She was in Oklahoma! when I was in 5th grade, and the crew came to Edgar School and we got the chance to ask the cast questions. She was telling me about how fun it was to be in Oklahoma! and about the daily practices, etc. But one thing that I won’t forget was her smile; she was so welcoming! And just then I knew that she was a great person.

Rest in peace Susie! You are awesome inside and out! My number one goal in life is to live like you; Say hi to my Uncle Rich for me : ) thanks!

-Amanda Feldmann

“I wished someone a good day who looked lonely, even though I usually keep to myself.”

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I feel like I keep telling myself that I need to Live Like Susie, but today was the first day I really felt as though I accomplished this. I wished someone a good day who looked lonely, even though I usually keep to myself. I reached out and told someone they dropped their wallet despite not knowing him. I could definitely feel Susie in the Rocky Point High School today, helping me to be a better me. Thank you to the Facini family for raising someone in such a way as to continue to positively influence the community even when she can no longer be here.

-Elizabeth Kidney

“What four-year old can keep a white jacket with white fur so spotless?”

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One of my favorite Susie memories is her beautiful white ski jacket with blue clouds. What four-year old can keep a white jacket with white fur so spotless? Susie, of course!!

Susie always wore her hat and gloves, just as her mom told her to – always without an argument. When Susie would come to visit, she would always look so pretty, dressed in a cute dress and shoes, with a matching bag. Her cousins would then change her into Umbro soccer shorts and t-shirts so she could play outside with them. Susie never complained! Her cousins dressed her up as a bride multiple times–I think she always ended up marrying Brian!

Susie was always smiling and always eager and ready for fun!  She loved her brother Andy dearly, and despite being younger than him, always tried to keep up with him.  Andy never lost patience with her, much to his credit, too.  Susie was so very special; her smile would illuminate the room.  What a tribute – to live like Susie!!!

-Aunt Kaka

“With any luck, we can mean as much to others as Susie has meant to us”

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I have no special stories to share of Susie. No amusing anecdotes to tell.

That’s because she simply existed as a part of my everyday life. I watched her learn to swim and climb the rocks with my boys at Tides Beach. I remember her singing in choir, trick-or-treating with us year after year, and anticipating Santa’s arrival on Christmas Eve. I saw her make her communion and her confirmation. I watched her run track and celebrate her 16th birthday.  I saw her look beautiful for one prom after another and to proudly wear the white robe of graduation.

Her milestones were forever entwined with our milestones, and the memories were all as one. However, mostly, when I close my eyes, I see her smiling face and feel her loving hug. She was never without these, her tools of the trade. All were welcome and at ease by the mere sight of her. She taught us all so much without ever really trying. She showed  love, compassion, kindness and acceptance to all. With any luck, we can mean as much to others as Susie has meant to us. I miss you, Sue Q. You are always in my heart.

-Lisa Schneider

“You are loved by Susie.”

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Susie was one of the few people in high school that would look me in the eyes without fear. She would ask me questions that nobody else thought to ask. She listened. She cared about the people she didn’t get along with.

I don’t think any guy in high school who knew her didn’t have a crush on her at some point. She knew how to let go of fear and thus was able to show you the love that she felt. If you felt shy near her, she would keep on giving you attention and love until you realized that she truly, deeply cared.

Friends like Susie are rare, but only because most people haven’t developed the courage that she had- to keep on trying until all of a person’s walls are down. She was loved because of her kindness towards everybody.

She embodied the kind of empathy that many Buddhist monks that I’ve met are still aspiring towards. Although she has changed shape, her love is still around us and inside of us. She is no less alive then when she gave me a hug every morning in chorus, or when she cooked food for the homeless after school. Susie would want you to know that she lives in all of your hearts. Her heart understood that separation is an illusion, and that’s why she had such an amazing capacity for love. I hope that everyone knows how much she loved everyone, and everything. You are loved by Susie.

You are loved.

-Stefan Trilling

“I’m not sure how we got from making videos to writing a song about my cat, but we thought it was hilarious.”

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I’m forever grateful to have known Sue for the time I was given. I wish there were still time to make more memories, but I’ll always cherish the ones I have with her.

I remember one particular day in 6th grade, when Susie came over my house for the first time. We thought it would be a great idea to make commercials and record them with my old school video camera. I had this huge bouncy ball and we were trying to advertise it by singing and bouncing on it… which resulted in us just falling off and making fools out of ourselves. That was our friendship, though. I’m not sure how we got from making videos to writing a song about my cat, but we thought it was hilarious. I still have the paper with most of the lyrics on it:

Jessie is really cool / Jessie goes in the pool
Jessie is sitting on the bed / Jessie likes to eat some bread
Jessie is bouncing on the ball / Jessie is going to take a great fall.

I’m always missing that smiling face of hers, and hoping I’ll hear her yell “SHMEMMA!” from afar, followed by a big Susie hug. She’d always make my days brighter no matter what. I just hope to make her proud while I’m still here, and try my hardest to “Live Like Susie” every day. She would always tell me, “You only live once, don’t doubt anything, just do it.” I’ll try my best.

-Emma Ward

“You can sit here as long as you want.”

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I’ve always known Susie. I wasn’t good friends with her for most of my school life, but that was because we just never saw each other.

Senior year, we had classes and a lot of things in common and we became friends instantly. I was always so shy, and she was so outgoing and willing to be friends that I came out of my shell. Although I was close with her at the end of our senior year, it was like we were close for a long time. I will always remember the things we would talk about and do in high school, like roaming the halls and trying to find the “good-looking substitute teacher”, and put on red lipstick in study hall because we thought we were awesome (we were).

But one memory will always stay with me. It was senior year, and all my friends were mad at me and left me at the lunch table by myself and went to the library. So I sat in the cafe and just ate by myself. I was upset, but didn’t really let it show. Susie came over to me and invited me to sit with her at her table, and told me “They aren’t nice friends, are they? You can sit here as long as you want.”

Someone who I just recently started talking to invited me over to their table to sit with them, while all of my best friends for years left me alone. I, as most, wouldn’t reach out to someone and invite them to sit with me… especially in high school. But Susie wasn’t like the rest of us. She was an amazing ray of sunshine.

I’m still friends with some of those people, but I knew someone was looking out for me and genuinely cared. I still live within my old ways, but ever since that day I always thought about how amazing it would be to be like her. If everyone was like Susie, the world would be an amazing, care-free place. I just wish we could all follow in her footsteps. I know that I’ll try. Everytime I eat lunch by myself, I can always hear her sweet voice inviting me over to her table… and even when, in reality, I am alone… I know she’s sitting their with me in spirit. LIVE LIKE SUSIE.

-Chelsea Salzan

“Oh really? Well ya know I’m a great person to talk to.”

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When I think of all the great memories I had with Susie, it is hard for me to pick one and call it my favorite. Susie, like I have mentioned many times, was my first true friend from the rivalry town of Rocky Point (which I am now proud to serve, help the people here and also call it my own home).

The first time I met her was at the public library, a girl named Gina from shoreham told me that we would be great friends and that I should get to know her, so I actually starting talking to her on IM by saying “hey, my friend Gina says I should talk to you”. Immediately, her response was, “Oh really? Well ya know I’m a great person to talk to.”

That pretty much set up the friendship that we had. Going in to visit the library, I found a short young girl with her fingerless gloves, tons of bracelets, multi-colored socks and the biggest smile in the world. We talked like we already knew each other for 100 years. I also met Mr. Facini for the first time that day too.

From there we became so close, I always sought advice from Susie when I needed it, whether it would be a text at 3am, which I would get yelled at for staying up so late on a school night by her response the next morning, or me asking if I can come over so we can talk in the porch. Susie always had my back, and I always had hers. Through it all she would be the first one to text me “are you okay? or “do you need to talk?”.

She really was a true sister to me. It’s so hard for me to not be able to text her anymore when I need a good friend to talk to. A day doesn’t go by that I still expect to see a text message from her with the usual “WHATS GOIN’ ON, BRO”.

I miss  her so much just like everyone else, I know she is watching over me, and although I wish it wasn’t so, I’m thankful for it at the same time. Susie is someone that comes along one in a million. She’s someone we should all try to be in life. Stay close my friend, I love you and miss you terribly. <3

-Andrew Miller

“Nothing gold can stay”

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Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
~ Robert Frost

 

Since you, Aunt Bern, told me this was Susie’s favorite poem, I cannot stop thinking about it and reading it over… Every night when I pray to Susie, I read it to her. I hope she likes it… I don’t remember any times I was with you Susie. I wish I did… I wish I had a story to share on here. But instead, Susie, I’m sharing your favorite poem which I really hope you enjoy.

I love you Susie. I wish we had gotten to know each other; I know you, me, and Michaela would’ve been the best of friends. I love and miss you Susie. I think about you, your mom, your dad, your brother, and also Angela every single day. I love you <3

-Kaitlyn Sciarrino

“We watched ‘Animal House’ and played Michael Jackson’s dance game for the Wii that night”

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The First Time I met Susie I was sitting in McDonald’s in a group, and she just came up to my table and started talking to me and my friends like she had known us for years. We had a few mutual friends, and we hung out a few times throughout high school. I hadn’t seen her for over a year when one day, over the Summer, I was out kayaking with my friend, and she was fishing off of Satterly Landing with her mom. It was just as if she had hung out with me the day before. We stayed and went fishing with her for a while until she invited us back to her house to swim in her pool and have dinner.

We watched “Animal House” and played Michael Jackson’s dance game for the Wii that night — both things that are 100 times more fun with Susie’s attitude and sense of humor. After that one day of running into Susie by chance, I was lucky enough to have re-kindled our friendship, and got to know her and the Facini family for the rest of the Summer. I’m so glad I got to have a Summer and Fall worth of Susie stories that will last me a lifetime.

-Brian Campbell