JOY's PROSE: BELOVED FRIEND SUZANNE

Beloved Friend Suzanne, z"l

My dear beloved friend Suzanne, a heart 💜’sister' for almost half a century,

Now I am speaking to your sweetest Neshama, hovering nearby.

In case you don’t know, and surely you must, I want to make sure that YOU know how GRATEFUL I AM, that you and your family--Alan and Ariel, have been in my life, in our lives– Faye’s and Aviva’s and Brett and Maya’s! You’ve even been, that Shabbat LA evening, in the belly presence of Maya’s sister-to-be, but we didn’t know it yet. Oh, love those magic wands you decorated with little Maya last December.

Because photos have been strong in our life, I can see the photos all the way back, 47 years ago and you and Alan playing in the Atlantic Ocean, splashing through the Long Beach waves. I see your dad, Yisroel/Edward, z"l, at his produce section of the Long Island grocery. I see your mom, Feidel/Frieda, z”l, in Bayside, NY and here in the San Fernando Valley. I wore your beloved sister, Sharon’s,z”l, wedding veil to my own chuppah. She died too young, 7 years ago, age 63. You deeply appreciated Sharon, and love her daughter Rebecca and her baby son. Ariel inherited Aviva's toys; real wooden building blocks.

You even knew my husband Marcel, z”l, when he was in medical school, in our 'puppy love', soon after you and I met in 1968, The Sixties.

Images:

I see you in my mind’s eye with your sweet flute playing under a tree, when we were at pals at Queens College.

and

Our trespassing adventures on the island in middle of the Schuykill River... in Penn. when we were arrested when we didn’t listen to the police bullhorns in their boats and we all gave the cops outrageous hippie phony names. We had driven to PA and rented boats in the rain for an escape right after my mom, z”l, had died in 1969. YOU were there with me.

Our driving up north from NY to MA to see your cousins and mine in the Berkshires.

Our LaMaMa experimental theatre learning, 1969, and lots of wet clay as were devoted CERAMICS students together, and meeting my sister, Faye at Fort Tryon Park by the Cloisters. There was a lovely mosaic bench.

Simchas: Chinese dinners and birthdays and anniversaries, and carousels, and beaches, movies, and museums with concerts and Chinese pastries, and reflective walls at Disney Concert hall, and shul, and walks eating kasha and potato knishes in Lake Balboa with blooming Cherry trees where you’d speak on phone with Alan in Mongolia and with Ariel back east.

We’ve shared SO MUCH IN OUR LIVES and I am grateful for your being my soul sister and loving wise confidant on this journey ever since THE SIXTIES. Yup, Hippie Souls. And together we met The Rebbe!

Remember you were the first person in my new used teal colored '67 Chevy that drove us to Brooklyn from Queens, and I drove alone from the Bronx at Einstein to pick you up. You were brave.

YOU always have been here for me, always, with my challenges and my simchas--with your love, great shining light, listening, joy, wisdom, creativity, adventurous spirit, sweetness, love of family and nature, and laughter and humor that I cherish.

I learned about artist Dale Chihuly from you when you studied at Haystack, Maine, and I still love his blown glass glass and even Aviva has visited his NY exhibit. I did so in Jerusalem at The Citadel.

Ridiculous that you’ve spent with Alan, and maybe Ariel too, more time with my little Maya than I have, even when she was days old during the Maryland blackout. Amazing you could find us all where we were sheltered couch surfing in the blackout.

I need to ask your forgiveness. Please forgive me for anything I may have ever said or done to upset you or not done. Yes, I have regrets. You offered to bring me a meal a few months ago when I was not well and I didn’t want you to shlep, so regretfully I said "no".

You didn’t know but when I thought I would need loving physical care for any medical issue in the future, I would call on you.

YOU have been a “gate” to my joy!!!!! Remember you helped me add to my essay on "Gate to Joy". I do recall where, Weiler's Deli, and when, after your sister Rebecca's, z"l, funeral.

You, Suzanne, are in my heart, really part of my heart, part of my blood’s pulse for life, a beautiful garment for my soul, and I LOVE YOU, and just want to make sure that you hear these words from me, if not in person, than with Ariel or Alan reading them to you, sharing them.

I am here for you. I love you.

If you are ‘Auntie Suzanne’, then I am your sister,

Joy

July 2016

Baruch Dayan HaEmet
My beloved friend Suzanne, age 66, died July 3rd 2016 ~ 27 Sivan 5776.

Devoted family had been with Suzanne for months.
A hugely bright shining light, in person now dimmed, yet still shining.

I went to a Silk Road world concert with sister Faye at the Getty. I invited Suzanne's neshama to join us at one of her fave places, and then I realized, NO. Her now global neshama was listening to the authentic music in Iran and elsewhere in the universe.

Remembering bits'n pieces of Suzanne's amazing life, I recall the following:
She spent a summer working in Paolo Soleri's village Arcosanti, Arizona.
He began construction in 1970, to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth. He taught and influenced generations of architects and urban designers who studied and worked with him there to build the proposed 'town.’

Suzanne traveled to Alaska with Alan in 1976-1980.
Went to Japan, Tunisia, Indonesia, Nepal.
Loved films at LACMA, sat on floor watching intently.
Studied in architecture school.

Received 4 weeks before Suzanne died.

Dearest lovely Joy:

Blessings on your birthday and on your journey. We love you and hope all your wishes and dreams come true this year.

With much love,

Suzanne and Ariel and Alan

Photos by © Joy Krauthammer if I'm not in them.