My mom, Sue, had fond memories of fishing with her dad – so much so that I knew I wanted to select one of two photos of her fishing for the cover of “Surviving Sue”. I finally chose the pic (see below) for the cover because her smirk and ‘over the shoulder’ grin look joyous even though she had very few days of happiness as a child.
A close runner-up for cover art was the photo I’ve snipped in above – mom holding her ‘catch of the day’. Her smile conveys pride but years later, she shared that she felt like she was the provider in the family the day she had her ‘big catch’. Her father had been out of work for months and the fish Sue caught that day became dinner for a couple of nights for their family of six. One of the threads in Sue’s story is hunger. Pervasive hunger on a physical and emotional level.
In today’s post, I’m sharing the synopsis of “Surviving Sue”, which will be available for pre-sale (more about that in the weeks to come) in June:
“Surviving Sue” is a heart-wrenching story about the torment of keeping secrets, told from the daughter’s perspective as she navigated her mother’s mental health and addiction issues, while trying to shield and protect her disabled sister. “Surviving Sue” is about the power of storytelling to build resiliency, a guidebook for others who struggle with complex family issues including Alzheimer’s, depression, alcoholism, developmental and physical disabilities.
Thank you so much for your continued interest in the story of my mom’s life. As we inch closer to the release date, I’ll provide snippets of Sue – here and there – to reveal some of the reasons why I think her story was worth writing…and I hope, once you’re able…you’ll find it was a story worth reading.
My post on Heart of the Matter today digs into the aspect of growing…by writing about family. Tricky business, for sure, but over the next few weeks, I’ll share the a-ha’s I experienced as I challenged myself to stretch and grow.
Many thanks,
Vicki 😊
Victoria Ponders 
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