Hello and Welcome to Blue Sunflower!
I joined Substack in July of 2022, and originally created Blue Sunflower to share excerpts from my memoir in progress: of when I was raising Laura, my daughter with Congenital Heart Disease. I also write about my life before Laura was born and after her passing, and share stories and reflections on living with long term grief and loss, and on being a woman and an artist.
Laura lived an extraordinary and challenging life until her passing at 14 years of age. My stories portray Laura’s personhood and journey and my role as her mother. I share the challenges our family endured at home, in the hospital and at school while navigating the medical system and advocating for Laura.
Blessed with a good memory, I recreate the seminal moments in Laura’s life and our life through the lens of being her mother. While describing each scenario, I share the thoughts, feelings and perceptions I had in each moment as the events unfolded. Since Laura was a prolific writer who kept diaries and wrote nonfiction and fiction stories, I sometimes share her own writing to give her voice and to honor her perspective.
Our story is about love, creativity, hope, faith, perseverance, resilience, joy and sorrow. My goal is to take you up close and personal, through a window into our experiences. I hope to create awareness, offer moments of human connection, and bring more understanding and humanity into the world. I believe that this story beckons to be told and asks to be heard. The life lessons which erupt from Laura’s story are important pieces of Laura’s legacy and of our legacy as her parents.
I began writing Laura’s story in 2014, on weekends during the winter. As time went on and I began to write more frequently, I began to envision the reality of publishing my writing as a book. I decided that the first step was to get some of our story out into the world now, and not to wait to share the years it may take to finish the book. I kept my writing practice private for over 8 years until the day I took the plunge and created Blue Sunflower on Substack and published my first post: When Life Gives You Lemons: Lemonade Stand in the ICU. ( link at end of summary)
Publishing on Substack took courage, but the positive responses I received encouraged me to keep writing and sharing. Your readership and support will help me to reach my goal of publishing my book.
Knowing that you are out there reading my work means a lot to me. I want to hear your thoughts! I appreciate any feedback you can offer. Click on the heart shaped icon or leave a comment in the speech bubble at the bottom of each post to let me know how you are feeling about my writing. If you prefer privacy, you can email me: susanffartwork@gmail.com
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Thank you for discovering Blue Sunflower and for taking this journey with me.
With Love and Gratitude,
Susan
Read my first post from July, 2022:
Read a post about living with grief and loss:
