Susan's Retreat in the News:
A legacy left for others
By: John Nickerson (Ipswich Chronicle, Thursday, May 3, 2007)
From a young age, my sister Susan took the caring and comfort of others to heart, beginning with myself. When our mother died when we were youngsters, my older sister was there to tenderly help me with the transition.
After college she left home and her first stop was in the hospitality industry. Working for Paquet Cruises on a cruise ship on the Mediterranean, Susan, who then was only in her early 20’s, became her ship’s social director.
From there she worked for a Boston-based company that planned meetings for its far-flung corporate clients. There, Susan developed an uncanny sense for what makes people, who are a long way from home, happy.
Having visited with her at some of the largest out-of-state events (more than 450 people attending) after she opened her own meeting planning business in 1984, I can tell you that she knew how to please her audience.
The rodeos, balloon rides, galas, western nights, wine tours, gourmet tours and architecture walks (to name a few) were the glue that held these meetings, which lasted up to six days or more, together.
I know that Susan was determined, as her life was ending, to find something that could make a difference to those contemplating their own mortality. Her years in Ipswich gazing at the rich, green salt marshes and sterling water off her deck gave her the peace of mind that she needed between the doctors visits and the work she took so seriously.
Before she died, she told me that she wanted that deck and her Northridge Road cottage to become a place of solace for others approaching the same kind of life rending challenges she had faced. Without the possibility fo making that little house a destination for others seeking a place to gather themselves, friends and family pursued another way to realize her dream and formed Susan’s Retreat.
She would be so proud to see the foundation provide so much joy and comfort to those experiencing life’s wrenching changes that breast cancer brings. I see the foundation continuing my sister’s work.
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