To Menou with Love – A Love Story

As a tween, an almost adolescent, I didn’t really understand what sexy was. All I knew was that Elvis Presley made me feel differently. For some reason, I wanted to kiss him and my eyes were glued to his body when he performed. Once I fully understood what sexy was, Elvis was gone, never to return. Left to seek out other sexy avenues I stumbled upon, David Cassidy, John Travolta, Tony Defranco, Davy Jones, and the super cute guy down my street.
Friendships are the ‘ebb and flow’ of daily life. Friendships also go through changes as people’s lives experience many adjustments along the way. Bending that licorice of life and going with the flow is needed to sustain beautiful friendships and families.
Last week I was given a fabulous opportunity to take Noonie to Ogunquit, Maine. She has been visiting OGT for 62 years. Noonie prides herself with telling people she was pregnant with me on the beach. Which makes me not quite 60 yet, but I’ve been to OGT for over 60 years. Go figure.
The next time you see a beautiful sky, a sunset, or live through a perfect day, thank the world. Appreciate all you have been given.
Take this happiness and give it to something or someone else. Spread the joy and give it back too.
Naturally, I’m already on a slower speed than the rest of the world. In truth, this annoys people who know me very well. I have a tendency to get lost in the moments. I putter, think, wait, watch, listen, contemplate, and daydream, a lot. You remember, the kid the teacher always told to stop daydreaming. As a student, I preferred to sit next to the classroom window. Frequently, I gazed outward, wondering, thinking, pondering, and then alerted to stop daydreaming. I wasn’t daydreaming, I was creating! Pink Floyd The Wall, “Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!”
The simple joys of life really hold the greatest value in your time. Give it a try. Go into the history books of your life and find the moments when you can say to yourself, “It doesn’t get much better than this”. What was it? Where was it? Who were you with? What made it so special that you can bottle it?
One more week to go for our JDRF Sun Life Walk to Cure Diabetes event. We will be walking on Sunday, June 12th. This article was written after our 2021 Walk to Cure. This year, we have the same hopes, dreams and wishes. In reading this article, you will know exactly how I’m currently feeling! Enjoy!
Gladys Presley gave her son Elvis a guitar at a very young age. He was born with music in his blood. At first his famous dance moves were not purposely part of his stage act. The music he was creating made his body move in those very interesting ways. Actually, he found it hard to control his body when he was performing. The music controlled him. Without a doubt, he had it! Naturally given talent!
A loving reminder… Sometimes you don’t have to say, “I love you” to mean it full heartily. Sometimes your actions will speak much louder than words. I’m a firm believer of what a person actually “does” speaks volumes rather than the words a person speaks.
My parents usually called me “Suzie” or “Sue” or “Suz” in a playful kind of way. When I would hear my name screamed as “SUZANNE!!!” I knew the sh*t hit the fan and I would run for cover under my bed or hide in the corner of a very dark closet. Of course, once I was in a dark space, I had to go to the bathroom. This was an automatic response to my fear and sudden confinement. I’m kinda the same today.
It’s so very important to surround yourself with brilliant, creative, funny, loving, wonderful friends. I am very lucky in that I have an AMAZING group of fabulous friends. Recently, my incredibly smart entrepreneur friend Sally gave me a GIANT piece of advice. She told me to “Stay in Your Lane”. That’s not all the great advice she has given me.
Last week, I was walking out of my home to get into my car. A delivery man was just walking up my front door steps. He told me that he had a package for me and I needed to sign for it. I signed for it and he gave it to me. I thanked him. Just as he was about to walk down my front steps, he turned to face me and said, “You smell delicious.”
Woweeee! That caught me off guard. I thanked him and kinda blushed. He went into his truck and I got into my car. I paused before starting the ignition.
That felt AMAZING!!!
Years ago, my best friend, Alissa Sue, moved to New York City. Her leaving was a big loss for me. I mention her middle name, Sue, for this is her direct link to me as I am a Sue too!
At that time, I was saddled down at home with teaching and raising a young family. She was single and living a very exciting life in the Big Apple. About once or twice a year, I went to visit her. We ran around the city doing so many things, trying trendy restaurants, shopping in amazing stores, jogging in cool spaces, seeing hot shows and loving our time together. Those weekends together are etched in my mind.
Growing up we had a Junk Food Pantry in the kitchen. My friends would come over and raid it. This pantry had cookies, candies, chocolates, chips, mini cakes, nuts, cheese puffs, licorice, etc. Every 2 weeks my mom would load it up with tons of junk food. My friends Ellen and Gayle would come over to visit the pantry, before visiting me!
Now, I have butterflies of excitement in my stomach. I love this time of year. So many things will happen in the following days which gets me giddy. Firstly, the nights start to get cooler. That’s my number one thrill as I’m not a summer person. I’m sure many people are rolling their eyes at that statement. I love cool weather and enjoy wearing a light scarf around my neck. So my season of autumn is upon us.
For me, the greatest year was 1985. I had just graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Education degree. I was going to be a teacher (who couldn’t spell). My hair was permed and big. The fashion was oversized everything with shoulder pads to accentuate the even bigger oversized look. Computers were an up and coming tool which people were starting to use. I loved my Apple IIC computer because it helped me spell better.
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