October: Caregiving, Sunflower Art, Anniversary

Mom, Tom’s Story

Dear loyal readers and subscribers,

I have not posted in a few months because I have been preoccupied with caregiving and worrying about my mother who is now 91 and ended up in the hospital and then in rehab, soon to enter Hospice status. My Mom, siblings and I are facing tough decisions.

I have been going out of state from Massachusetts to Connecticut almost weekly since the middle of July-to be with my mother and to help advocate for her healthcare both in-person and from afar.

For this reason, there has been a gap in my writing and posting on Substack.

An artist by profession, I have been doing some painting to relieve stress and work through the emotions and feelings that I have about what’s going on. Late summer into autumn is also one of my favorite times to paint.

Interestingly and symbolically, my garden yielded only one strong and beautiful sunflower from the many seeds I planted this year. I have been painting my sunflower from its yellow perky bloom to its wilting decline, now nearing end of life. While I paint this stunning sunflower, I think about my courageous mother and send her prayers and healing. Like the sunflower, I have watched my Mom go from bright bloom to fading health.

I travel to nurture my mother in person, then return home to make phone calls to her and the nurses, advocating from afar. Then I tend to my sunflower. I paint its wilting beauty in between my visits to Mom. We are all in limbo, waiting to see what her fate will be, while trying to keep her pain at bay. I began writing a poem/essay called Caregiver Blues. I will post it soon.

For now I will share a story that was written by a client who bought a painting from me in October about three years ago. One day I was out painting an ocean view with a lighthouse and vibrant wavy sea with surfer in my view. When the surfer came ashore, he walked up to me in a wetsuit and told me he loved my painting and he wanted to buy it. A few weeks later, after the oil paint dried on the canvas, he (Tom) came to my studio and purchased the painting. We had a long conversation, and somehow I shared a little bit more than I had planned to share.

Two months later Tom contacted me and asked if he could publish a story he wrote about me. He titled it, Susan. I was blown away and flattered when I read it and I thought he was a good writer. I agreed that he could publish it.

He told me about Substack and his blog called Carrot Cake. I gave Tom permission to publish his story and I subscribed to his Substack. I started to follow all of his writing, and after a time I read other stories on Substack.

Tom Sullivan

Tom was the inspiration for me to become a Substack publisher. Six months later, I posted my first story on Substack, a chapter from the book I am writing about Paul’s and my daughter, Laura.

Today, I thought about Tom’s story because he refers to my first date with my husband, which is today, October 16.

I hope you enjoy reading it. Please also read my first Substack post about my daughter’s lemonade stand in the ICU. Please take a minute to click like and/or leave a comment. Thank you! 💜🌻🙏

Susan