My mom. “Mudder.” Fellow Introvert and Misfit. Wife. Mother. Grandmother. Sister. Animal Lover. Friend. Musician. Artist. Poet. Dreamer. Teacher.
As my mom was writing her book, she would periodically send me drafts and revisions of it. Included with a draft she sent in June 2011, she wrote to me, “okay. This is the revised beginning. The final beginning. Mut [my mom’s mom] can’t help me with the illustrations. And she said it’s very expensive to publish a book. I don’t care! There’s a message…a lesson. This is NOT my get rich quick idea. This is a story that needs to be told!!” In 2017, three years after my mom passed, I illustrated and published her book. Available in print and on Kindle! I have author copies and would be happy to send you one free of charge if it’s simply not in your budget!
Susan Adair Lupold had always been a writer by nature. Following is an email she wrote to her three daughters on December 21, 2012.
Hi, guys. I’m doing a lot of reflecting and thinking tonight. I have 3 daughters, and they are all so different…sun, moon, and stars. I’m just so darn blessed! I love you all so much! Thank you for being so different, and each giving me such wonderful ‘gifts’.
If my kids were seasons…
[daughter 1], you would be summer.
Flip flops, flowers, the far away sounds of children playing in the street.
Laughter. Innocence.
[daughter 2 (me)], you would be autumn.
Crisp winds, falling leaves, golden sunsets washing the world in shadows.
Change. Anticipation.
And [daughter 3], you would be winter.
Blowing snow, silence, skies filled with ever changing clouds.
Preparation. Contemplation.
Peace to you all.
Following is part of a poem that my mom had written as a teenager. However, by the time she shared it with me years ago, she couldn’t recall the rest of it.
Did you come to church,
The people said.
Did you join us there
for wine and bread.
No, I didn’t was my reply.
Instead I watched a cloud pass by.
Don’t remember the rest, but I know it ended with
And (He) shed a tear for all to see.
Susan Adair Lupold was a stained glass artist. She started and ran her business WindSong Design Studio and her work was sold at Tickle My Senses Gallery, eBay, and the annual Pumpkin Fest in Enola PA. She made one-of-a-kind, meaningful, and stunning windchimes, each one given a name. She also crafted magical wall hangings that we never stopped calling “marble things.”
My mom’s talents were endless. She made the below fireplace screen, made shorter windchimes, wreaths, and keychains.
Susan Adair Lupold was also a painter. She painted a dresser for my daughter. Small boxes. Refinished furniture. Painted scenes on anything made of wood.
My mom wrote this to her mom in May 2010:
My mom admired her sister Kath (pictured above). She loved Kath’s magnetic and bubbly personality. My mom was delighted when her sister gave her this review of a draft of her book in February 2012:
My mom admired her dad’s strength, sense of humor, and talents and wrote him a letter just as touching as the one she wrote her mom.
My mom was so in love with this kid!
She made my son his very own key lime pie every year for his birthday. There is nothing she would not have done for him. He knew from a very young age that “Gammy” would always, always be there for him no matter what.
