Thoughts upon the passing of a friend
You passed away a month ago, but I’ve been so torn up about it that it took me this long to put thoughts to paper. Plus, I’m still in disbelief – you were such a positive whirlwind of energy that I have a hard time believing you were taken from us so soon.
The very first time I met you was when you were working at Stan Veit’s Computer Mart of New York. I was working for a company a few blocks away, designing computers. That first time I just ran in there to get some random part I needed, rather than waiting for mail order. Somehow we ended up talking. After that I’d tell my work that I urgently needed a part, just to go to CMNY to talk to you some more. Dave Levine showed me how to program the Computalker to say ‘things’ to you after I’d left.
While we were both in our own orbits, we passed each other often enough to become close friends. I have a series of vivid memories, though I can’t put them in any sort of definite time sequence other than by relating them to other events in my life, looking at concert ticket stubs, and so on. After we reconnected, I told you a number of these – some you remembered, some you could even pin down to a specific time and place, and others you didn’t remember at all. As you pointed out, we were partying pretty hard together during some of those times.
Stan’s CMNY closed and he ended up at Synchro Sound. Shortly after that, my project was shut down and I was looking for work. I asked Stan for a job and he was kind enough to set me up with a job there. You were working in that shoe company office in the Empire State Building and I’d commute back to Manhattan and meet up with you.
Eventually I lost track of you. I would run into various friends of yours at the strangest places – in a diner in the middle of nowhere in New Jersey, at the DMV, and so on. I’d always ask “Have you heard from Sue?” and the answer was always “No”, sometimes with a “If you do hear from her, let me know.”
I had pretty much given up finding out what ever happened to you when by chance I came across Stan’s obituary at legacy.com and saw that you had posted there. Knowing your married name I was able to find you with a web search. I discovered you were happily married and were doing what you loved. I decided I didn’t need to interject myself into your new life just to say “hello” and reminisce.
I don’t know why it took me so long, but 10 years after I located you, I decided to reach out and contact you via email. That was in October 2020. You were surprised but very glad to hear from me, and we had a brief but intense exchange of long emails filling each other in on what we’d both been doing since we saw each other last. I promised I’d come visit, but somehow never managed to find the time.
At the beginning of December 2021 you posted that you were in the hospital. I figured it wouldn’t slow you down at all – you were a force of nature, after all. With increasing disbelief I saw your less and less frequent posts, until your husband David announced that you’d passed away on December 30th. I was in shock – how could someone so full of life pass away so soon? It just wasn’t fair!
As I said above, it has taken a month for me to write this, and I’m in tears even now. One thing I do know is that wherever you are now, you’re definitely livening up the place with the joy you spread so freely to all around you. The lights here on Earth may have dimmed, but the heavens gained a new star when you joined them.
You go by Suzie Kerr Wright these days, but to me you’ll always be Sue (and when I need to distinguish between you and anyone else named Sue, “Sue with blue hair and roller skates”, or “Blue Sue” for short).
Farewell, Sue. I love you and I miss you more than you can imagine.
