This past Tuesday was as beautiful a day as one can imagine, early autumn laced with a lingering trace of summer, the cloudless sky as blue as Paul Newman’s eyes.
It was all wrong.
Dawn should have arrived leaden overcast and gloomy. Afternoon should have been windy and cold. The evening sky should have cracked with thunder and lightning.
At the very least, birds should have taken the day off from song; flowers should have closed their blooms; the night stars refused to twinkle.
Suz Montgomery, a Renaissance woman and local shero, succumbed to cancer Tuesday after fiercely battling the heinous-and-heartless disease into remission time and again for nearly a decade.
It is a cliché to say Suz packed two lifetimes into her 73 years. It would also be an understatement – three lifetimes is more like it. Here is a one-deep-breath biography of the longtime Ventura resident: lifetime learner and educator, tireless advocate for the elderly and energetic champion for youth, host of the “Schmooze with Suz” talk show on local television, green-thumbed gardener and marvelous Italian chef, warrior of justice fighting for the homeless and mentally ill, and, of course, mother, wife, grandmother, and dear friend to about a million people.
In my favorite photograph with Suz, we are embraced in a hug as tight as two best friends who have not seen each other in ages even though our absence had not been long at all. Her face is turned toward the camera with a smile as wide as the 805 area code and as bright as a spring day. Her eyes twinkle with delight. She is so beautiful you probably would not even notice that chemotherapy had once again stolen her hair.
What is most special about this picture is that most everyone who knew Suz has a similar photo overflowing with her love. Indeed, Suz had a way of making everyone in her life feel like they were her dearest friend. That is no small gift.
A recent gift Suz gave me, and which I believe because of its timing she wished for me to share with the world after she left us, were these ten life lessons she believed in and put into practice:
“There is no such thing as a mistake – it’s an opportunity to learn a new lesson. (Especially helpful in teaching kids.)
“Every day is a miracle – you simply need to look beyond the moment and see beyond.
“The time to do the right thing is always NOW!
“Judge your friends by the size of their hearts.
“Give to the world the best that you have and the best will come back to you.
“Grandparents are the best teachers without fear or filters.
“Trust your heart to make the right choice, not your head.
“You can always begin again.
“Serving others is the best of self – everyone WINS!
“It’s not always what you do now, it’s what you leave behind that matters.”
Thanks to the size of her heart and her passion for serving others, Suz undeniably leaves behind a legacy that matters.
You remember funny things at a time like this. A few years ago, on a drizzly day, Suz sent me this message: “Hon, have a great run today! I, too, once loved running in the rain – made me feel like I was five years old at recess.”
This is all the more reason why the sunshine seemed so wrong on the day Suz passed away at sunrise, for I could not help but imagine her running in the rain again, finally free from pain.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His SIGNED books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.
Personalized Signed copies of WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” are available at WoodyWoodburn.com