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My Susans


I have four favorite Susans. They are wonderful, each and every one of them.  If I could nominate a panel of experts to help me run the world, my Susans would be on it.

Susan #1 is a friend, a professional associate, and a mentor to FarmWife. She's kind, caring, and really great at her job, which makes FarmWife's job a lot easier. She has taught FarmWife much of what she knows and her effectiveness as an editor is a thing of wonder and beauty. On top of that, she's sweet and smart and poised and beautiful. Her strength of intellect and character make her a hero to FarmWife, which makes her a hero to me.

Susan #2 is the mother of FarmWife's very good friend Marie. Marie is swell enough to be an honorary sister to FarmWife, so I'm going to go ahead and call Susan #2 my auntie. Auntie Susan is a fabulous knitter, a lover of books, and a darned good mom. Her momness rubs off on everyone around her, making us all feel loved and safe and encouraged and warm. She even extends this warmth to my chihuahua, for whom she knits wonderful sweaters. She is a good aunt, a good mom, a good Grandma, and a good friend. She is honest and kind and inspires peace and happiness.

Susan #3 lives in the sunny south and I've never met her in person, but she's been a good friend to FarmWife and to me. The value she has always placed on FarmWife's creative work has had a profound effect on our lives. Susan discovered my blog in its very first days, and it was Susan's encouragement of my early blogging efforts which helped FarmWife see writing as a viable career. Susan helped FarmWife make the leap from thinking of herself as an underemployed homemaker who writes to thinking of herself as an employable writer who works from home, and here we are: it's a couple of years later, and we're working every day. I have my column, FarmWife has her clients, and Susan remains a good friend and a constant source of inspiration, encouragement, and friendship.

Susan #4 is FarmWife's cousin (once removed) and was once billed as Canada's best modern dancer. She is a Canada Council for the Arts senior fellow and a notable ceramic sculptor. She is the kind of person who fills up a room with her elegance and her grace and her tremendous personality. Susan reminds FarmWife of childhood and of peaceful summers in the Thousand Islands and of her grandmother, whom she loved.

My Susans are independent, creative, beautiful, respectful, encouraging, and loving. If my Susans were in charge of everything, I guarantee the world would be a better place.

Ears,
FenBar

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