Some Wee Gifties

 So I have been pondering on what kind of gift you give to friends who have given so much of themselves and so much to us.

I decided there is no such gift. So instead I have decided to make them little tokens of love, hope , power and faith...I LOVE them, I hope my friends will too.

                                                              a little foxy hope

                                                                   Some bunny love

                                                                       tiger love
                                         
                                                              more bunny love

                                                             sweet hanging birds

                                                                             LOVE

                                                                        Dog

                                                               Hopeful  Bird

                                                               Hopeful Badger

                                                                 Love Bear

So Long 2012...Hello 2013

What can be said about 2012.. The timing for fresh and new is just right....Welcome 2013!

Some might say we have had a really crummy 2012, but the fact is, 2012 was a really remarkable year for my family...So much to celebrate. We will not allow one bad diagnosis to define our lives and color  all other events in it. We choose not to give cancer that kind of power and instead focus on all that is good and true. So we raise a glass to 2012, say adios, thanks for the memories, lessons and many, many gifts and blessings. Here are just a few:

Seeing our beautiful daughter Eliza graduate  from High School. It truly feels like just yesterday she was a baby! She began her freshman year in college...played lacrosse in the fall, (hopes to play in the spring as well, and will be walking on for tryouts...she has been working hard for a place on the team).  turned 18 in October...voted in her first election, rocked her first semester, is happy, talented, artistic, and just an amazing young woman...the "perfect baby" is a pretty awesome adult!

Watching our smart, funny, handsome, son T-Moe play lacrosse. As a freshman he was the starting goalie for the varsity lacrosse team...a big deal for him and something he works hard at every day. Such a treat to see  all his hard work reward him by letting him play a game he loves. Hockey...when the
So Po team did not have enough kids to field a team T and 3 of his buddies signed up to play a sport that none of them had ever played before. Nothing better than seeing your child come off any field, ice etc with an ear to ear grin, exclaiming how much fun they just had...priceless. Volunteering to be Santa at the community center's yearly Santa Calling. Ted has done Santa Calling for 16 years, and could not make it in this year to make calls. T-Moe & his buddy Will, without being asked...walked over and made calls for 3 days to children all over So Po. So proud of both these boys. Oh yes, not to forget the driving, T will get his license in a few months too.

A new job, working for  great company, that truly values family. And allows me to be CREATIVE and corporate at the same time. 

Ted feeling well enough to travel with his "Team" to Harvard and watch them play. Stand ( yup, who knew standing was a gift) on the sidelines and coach the group of boys that mean so much to him.

Meeting with Malcolm Chase, a remarkable young man...and his band of lacrosse brothers playing for Ted, whom they have never met.

Maineiax Lax putting together the Medicine games...POWER in Numbers...amazing how a game can bring so many together. 

Living in an awesome community. We had no idea 25 years ago how super South Portland was...we have always been so happy here. We have been so humbled by the kindness, generosity and love from people all over our community, helping in ways I cannot even begin to list here.

Being blessed with the MOST UNBELIEVABLE  friends. We always knew we had good friends, but we have Great, Amazing, Kind, Magnificent, Wonderful, Strong Tremendous friends who have made us realize how very lucky we are. Friends who probably do not realize how much strength we get from them, daily. Just knowing that they are there for us, supporting us and lifting our spirits each day...there is no word yet to describe the feeling...but my cousin Marie may have nailed it...unconditional LOVE...
Not many friends give another friend their own "Stock"....for ever one of the best evenings of our lives, so much love, love, love.

Artist friends...I hope you know how much you are loved. You have been dearly missed this year by me...your talent, insight, intelligence and GIANT hearts. So lovely to be in your circle of  creativeness.

Ted has said repeatedly that he is a lucky man, we are a lucky family. He feels there is a greater message in his being sick...slow down, appreciate the small things...see the good, do good, be relentless, be remarkable. Perhaps his being sick will open some eyes. I know it has opened ours to all the good around us. Just look, act...it's right there in front of you. We have truly discovered how fleeting every minute is. ENJOY LIFE, every little thing.

Now how can you argue that 2012 was  awful with all the goodness and love that is all around us. So we raise our glasses to you all..may 2013 bring much love, peace, strength and happiness and remarkable things! We begin 2013 with Full Hearts, overflowing actually...Thank you 2012.

Just Like That

And just like that, our life has changed. In mid July my super awesome husband of 23 years was diagnosed with cancer... "HTE"cancer as he calls it,  Here, There and Everywhere. What a game changer. We were blindsided. Ted has always taken pretty good care of himself and always had yearly physicals, routine colonoscopies, you know all the preventive stuff. So we were pretty shocked, I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach..literally could not catch my breath.  I am sitting with him right now in the Chemo room. This is his 3rd treatment... it took us a while to get here...after his first treatment, we discovered Ted was the 10%...you know, the side effects/reactions that rarely happen and only happen to a small group...Ted happens to be in that group!  

He has faced so much in the past few months...many, many weeks in the hospital, many hurdles to get to this point. He finally came home, where he could heal better and each week he has been getting stronger. He is back at chemo, and although it beats him up, he continues to be positive, cheerful and calm. As a family we have circled he wagons...our children are amazing, we are lucky. We are forever grateful and  in awe of the unbelievable kindness and love we have received from   our community. All the kind words, well wishes, acts of kindness really give us strength. Ted feels the love and it gives him the strength to fight on! 

Which brings me to the purpose of this post. I had a full show schedule thru the holidays, but as you now know, for personal reasons I have withdrawn from them all.  I am so sorry if you came to find me and I was not there. I am so grateful for all my loyal clients, friends and fans. I hope to be back at it once Ted is on the mend. I do have some things in select shops and galleries in Maine. And have continually been sketching and designing new products...When Ted is stronger, and he begins to heal after his chemo is done, I look forward to getting back to making! 

 Warmly,

Susan

For all the mothers I admire & adore

Happy Mother's Day!

 I LOVE being a mom! It has been the most rewarding, scary, challenging, and awsome experience.
I love this wild ride! I was lucky to have some shining examples of fantastic, loving, caring, nurturing, silly, strict, forgiving, accepting, patient mothers in my life. My mom recently passed away and I miss her dearly. When I was in my 20's I sought her sage advice (she was all of 40 something and I thought she knew all) As she became ill, I still sought her wisdom and though sometimes the advice was jumbled and a little off mark, I still loved that she tried her best to lead me through the storm. With my own 2 children I have tried to incorporate a little of all my mom idols, into who I am as a mom...I am by no means the perfect mother...but neither are the moms I love most. And for that I am grateful, they showed me that we are human, we make mistakes, we love, we nurture and do our very best and yes that at the end of the day if we teach our children Love, Kindness, and Acceptance they soon grow into the most amazing people, people that I want to be around and be like! So Good job all my Mamas...you know who you are and I love you, respect you  and I am so thankful for your love, friendship and help along the motherhood path.
XO

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love a holiday that celebrates LOVE.

Hope you and your Honey Pies enjoy each other today!

Joan Gloria Angello Delsandro Leone....My Mom

That's my mom on the left and her BFF Connie

I am just returning home from a long week in NJ. My lovely mother passed away the day after Christmas. It was expected, she had been sick for a long 16 years and  this past year was extremely difficult for her. What was not expected was the discovery of lost memories.
Let me start by saying that after my mothers first craniotomy in 1995, a 9 hour surgery to remove a tumor the size of a man's fist, she had a long 3 year recovery, many hurdles to over come and because of the size  of this tumor it was difficult to extract it without damaging some of her brain tissue. She was a different mom. The mom I grew up with was gone and I was sad. Don't get me wrong I was so thankful that she was still with us, my children got to know their grandmother, I just had not expected  a whole new person. With a heavy heart I  grieved  the loss of my mom. Over the next 16 years she would under go  8 more craniotomy's and radiation treatments to keep the benign tumors at bay. Each time a little more of her would slip away. She would work hard to recover and soldier on...always with a smile. In 16 years I never heard my mom complain, seriously never once.  I was so proud of her, awed by her strength and courage...her desire to fight so hard to stay here with us. The last 2 surgeries left her paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak more then 3 words. We expected the "slowing of her brain", but expecting it and watching it were 2 different things. It was heart breaking for all who knew my mother pre tumors and frustrating to her. I had the gift of being able to sit with her for 5 days about a week before her death. I was there when she opened her eyes for the first time in 2 days, and when she saw me we sobbed.  I was there when the doctor said there was nothing more to do. I was there when the decision was made not to feed the tumors any more. I was there when she tried to sing one of her favorite Harry Chapin songs. I was there when she opened her eyes for one of the last times and for this I will be forever grateful. I returned home for  Christmas with my family and on our way back down early on the  morning of the 26th, my Saint of a brother Peter called me to let me know that she had died early that morning. That call was followed by another from my other brother Chris, telling me the same.
We turned our car around in Massachusetts, headed back to Maine to gather my husband then headed back down to NJ. Where at my mothers wake I was given the gift of memories, beautiful memories of my mom. Friends from the neighborhood where I grew up, friends from High School, College, Maine, from my mother's childhood, from her 26 years  with  my dad ( who pre-deceased her by 27 years) My aunts and uncles and cousins from far and near... came in force and shared stories about "Joan" and "Mrs. Delsandro" & "Aunt Joanie" Stories about how she welcomed them into our family, how they lived at our house, her contagious giggle, sweet smile, kind spirit, giving soul and on and on.  I was so thankful for all the sharing of memories, because in all honesty, these past 16 years somewhere I had put all those memories away. I was touched deeply and more than words can ever describe by all the love I have felt the past week. From people who are a part of who I am...they are forever woven into the fiber of  my being.  I am blessed to have been born into such a family who raised me to be the person I am. They taught us love and kindness, to treat others they way you wish to be treated...who knew such simple words really go a long, long way. Because at the end of the day...my mother treated everyone kindly and with love and she was sent off that way a thousand fold.

And a few more

If you love em, you can pick them up at Pop, 100 Commercial Street, Portland. Open through December only. Featuring original Artwork by established and emerging artists from Maine & New England