Susy
Biography
Recalled Mom displaying her manicured nails and hiding unpainted or broken nails by holding her hands in fists. A granddaughter of the narrator’s Mom. Remembers playing Kings Corners, Cribbage, and Bunko with her grandma, Ruth, and Florence. The narrator's daughter, with whom she continued the Christmas stocking tradition. Restrains the narrator's urge to collect pine cones. Relationship to the narrator is not stated. Narrator’s daughter; American Bandstand was one of her favorites. The narrator’s daughter. Dancing was part of family life. Would have traded the family's possessions and experiences for a brother or sister. Enjoys gardening and 'junking' with the narrator and will not touch a needle. Helped her mother landscape the entire yard and add flowers and shrubs to attract butterflies. They hoped to tag Monarchs the following season and follow their migration to Mexico. Ethel took in Susy and Dee after Dee's divorce; their relationship is not explicitly stated. Ethel took in Susy with Dee after Dee’s divorce.
Timeline
date not given
Christmas stocking fruit tradition passed down
The narrator continued Daddy's stocking orange tradition with her daughter and grandchildren, adding an apple, an orange, and a walnut, and perhaps black coal in memory of her Dad.
Dee's ChapterBy the time of writing
Landscaping a bird and butterfly sanctuary
Mother and daughter landscaped the entire yard by hand and were adding butterfly-attracting flowers and shrubs. Tagging Monarchs and following their migration to Mexico was a hope for the next season, not a completed activity.
Dee's ChapterAfter Dee's divorce
Ethel welcomes Dee and Susy
Took them in after previously taking in Carol and Chris.
History of the Guild FamilyAfter all the children had left and Floyd had died
Ethel welcomes family after divorces
Took in Carol and Chris after Carol’s divorce, then Dee and Susy after Dee’s divorce.
History of the Guild Family
Stories mentioning Susy
- Flour-Dusted Hands, Pretty Nails, and a Day of CurlsThe narrator remembers Mom’s full-time work at home, her habit of dusting off her hands after tasks, and her lasting pride in her appearance. Susy recalled how Mom displayed polished nails but concealed damaged ones. Mom taught the girls beauty tricks, and she and Virginia spent a whole day giving five girls home perms. The narrator refused school the next day because her hair was too curly, though she later loved curls.
- A Love of Cards Passed DownMom taught the children 500 and Hearts and enjoyed Scrabble with them. The narrator also played Canasta with Mrs. Nicholson, as did Barb, Diana, and neighborhood children, and remembers basement games of 500 Rummy. Adult visits to Mom always included 500 as a way to talk and remember. The tradition reached the grandchildren: Susy recalls Kings Corners, Cribbage, and Bunko with her grandma, Ruth, and Florence.
- Christmas Cookies, Stocking Oranges, and a House Full of GiftsDee recalls a Christmas season filled with Mom's cookies, candies, fudge, and carefully chosen gifts. Dad bought the real tree at the last minute; Dee speculates that freshness and fire safety were his reasons. Bernie decorated outstanding cookies and called the children to the window to see Santa, who was always gone before they arrived. Daddy filled stockings with large oranges from Lagomarcino’s, especially treasured during wartime scarcity. Dee carried the fruit tradition forward with Susy and her grandchildren. Carol's Christmas Eve birthday brought a homemade angel food cake, with the leftover yolks used for noodles served with chicken over mashed potatoes. Christmas gifts included homemade clothing, dolls, sleds, BB guns, and school-made presents. Daddy continued Grampa's gift of twelve pairs of stockings to Mom after Grampa died. Dad's insistence on slowly fried mush and his breakfast invitations added to Mom's work while she also prepared turkey dinner. After Iris married, the growing family gathered at her larger house on Christmas Eve, where gifts piled toward the ceiling.
- Pine Cones and Christmas TreasuresAfter Dad's death, Mom developed her craftwork, turning the basement into a hobby shop for pinecone wreaths and Nature Trees. Carol and the narrator took their children along to gather natural materials with her. The narrator still collects pine cones for the memories, despite Susy's restraint. Mom later made Christmas ornaments for family and friends, carefully providing one for everyone to choose during holiday visits. A newspaper featured her crafts and tree. The ornaments remain precious reminders of her generosity and love of hard work.
- The First Television and the Music That StayedThe parents returned from Diana’s 1949 leg operation in Chicago with the family’s first black-and-white television. Dee contrasts television with the radio programs that had fed her imagination. Bernie bought a record player after starting window-display work, and Dee repeatedly played Patty Page’s The Tennessee Waltz. Bob and Sue danced, Barb and Margie adored Pat Boone, and Barbie and Diana played instruments. Years later, Diana’s warped violin was discarded, rescued by Mr. Sajben, repaired, and played by his son; Dee regretted being unable to recover it.
- Family Love Through Changing SeasonsDee recalls loving Ernie passionately during a marriage filled with motorcycles, travel, Susy’s dancing, and salon work. She tried to give Susy everything she had lacked as a child, later learning Susy wanted a sibling more than those comforts. Following her divorce on February 4, 1977, Dee did not remarry and found contentment with Susy and granddaughters Annah and Bryce. Gardening, treasure hunting, costume making, and furniture restoration enrich her life. She credits her family and the unconditional love passed down by her mother with sustaining her.
- A Mother and Daughter's Butterfly GardenDelores and her daughter Susy landscaped the entire yard by hand, turning it into a bird and butterfly sanctuary. Susy helps add flowers and shrubs to attract butterflies. They hope to tag Monarchs the following season and follow their migration to Mexico, as gardening becomes an avid hobby for Delores.
- Brownie’s Dancing Days and a Lifetime of MotheringDespite grief at home and being refused a college education, Ethel found happiness in friends, dancing, and work. Mary Hill introduced her to Floyd, whom she married in 1928. Together they raised seven children, while Ethel survived a serious goiter and worked several jobs. In widowhood she enjoyed crafts, cards, grandchildren, and travel, including a cherished 1979 European holiday funded by Bernie. She died during a visit to Diana in 1988, remembered for her unqualified love.
- Cards, Christmas Ornaments, and a Long-Awaited European JourneyWidowed Ethel maintained a full life of handcrafts, Christmas ornament making, evening cards and helping family members after divorces. She visited Diana in Florida annually. In 1979 Bernie fulfilled her dream of Europe with a visit to Carol, Charlie and Chris in Mainz and a family trip to Denmark. Ethel died during her 1988 Florida visit and was buried beside Floyd, with an incorrect birth year on her headstone that had never troubled her.
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