Susan Grace Smith

In Remembrance of Susan Grace: a Letter to My Beloved Wife

You were so shy when we first met, 55 years ago during the summer of ’65 – how can I now contemplate your passing when you are yet alive in my heart, and in my soul? Our life together was like a storybook of love I might never have imagined could be mine, so loving a woman were you. What you wanted was for each day to come, and you would use every opportunity that such days provided to weave children, family and friends into the fabric of our life, and with such of an abundance of the love that you generously possessed!

You carried with you a sense of happiness that could overwhelm most every person that you would meet, and there was a strong sense of willingness in you to help anyone in need, whether a stranger or a friend. Unconditional love for everyone meant each of us in the family would seek you out for advice, or direction, or just a sense of encouragement. Each one of us benefited in the knowing of such a woman, whose love for God and for His Word, and your own devotion to it, made you the ideal woman and mother.

We are lost without your caring and kind presence in our lives, that soft but persistent voice, and always the love you carried within, to share with others. We will grieve for you each day until the time our own passing overtakes us, and we can once again share with you life’s blessings. It is our prayer that “the Only True and Living God” will hold your spirit close to Him for that time when He will say to us, “wake up!”

Susan, my beloved wife and best friend, mother and grandmother was preceded in passing by her: father – Robert G. Sanderson, mother – Marilyn F. Heilman, older sisters – Paula D. Guggisberg & Linda L. Anderson, brother – Richard G. Sanderson, and grandson – Jesse D. Harpool

and is survived by family members: husband – Michael W. Smith, daughters – Stacey L. Sirginous and Victoria M. Boese, along with a son – Michael C. Smith, all of whom are currently living in the Blue Springs, MO area.

by five grand daughters: Larissa Grace Huff, Miranda M. Boese, Rachelle C. Harpool, Rowan E. Smith, Regan Grace Smith

and at present, great grandchildren total eight: Tori Faith, Sebastian M., Caleb M., Jordan Grace, Emme, Jesse, Wyatt J. and Ellie Grace

Susan Grace was a dedicated member of the Blue Springs Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, seeking to help many “draw close to God,” and “to find Him while He may yet be found.” You are living within me, within us, through the decades of love and laughter together, and so, dear dear wife, while you yet live there in my heart and in my memory, I am your husband until I too have passed from this life. For you and I, there are no goodbyes, but rather, as I might say as though leaving the house to complete chores: “I will return home to you, soon as I can. I Love You, My Wife.” For now, I must await ‘your’ return home and please, make it as soon as you can. Until when next we meet, my beloved wife,

Always with Love and with a Spiritual Embrace
Your Devoted Friend, Forever Your Husband
Michael

We Remember Her Kindness, We Long to Hear Her Voice, We Mourn Her Going

For those who were well acquainted with my Susan Grace, her family is well aware that you are just as bereft of spirit as we are in the loss of our beloved mother and grandmother, my dear wife and a best friend. We do indeed “long to hear her soft voice” that spoke to others with love she felt in her heart and soul for everyone, her warm voice perhaps more like a song than words to those loving her.

This woman was a gift for us to delight in her company, one whose spirit was most evident when she was speaking with the people she had come to know over time and, whether young or old, well off or in need of aide, our Susan had kind words that may encourage such ones to see themselves perhaps as fortunate after all, and not quite so down as they had thought of themselves only moments before. Yes, she was a gift especially to family and so, without her presence, her voice, we mourn pitifully so.

Her smile would be like her, modest and somewhat subdued, saving the best for those she loved the most and in later years, perhaps that smile was a bit self-conscious while for us, it was lit up like our downtown KC – and it was her eyes that drew us all in to hear the warmth, such warmth that was in her voice. There was a kindness in it, a depth you could almost touch, and she seemingly was able to be in your shoes and feel your pain, or your sense of joy and would share these with you while trying to encourage you, even as we would hope to encourage her as health became an issue for her later.

All of these bits of personality and love would just ooze from within her as we talked in these last few years together for hours – man and woman, husband and wife nearly 48 years – we could talk a night away in the living room, or when we were sometimes traveling together by car, how I miss this so very much! There was a way about her that was captivating, a subtle manner of reserved character that did not beg terse remarks, certainly no unseemly language but, she wasn’t one to judge just because one might lack self-control or having a rough time. My Susan was a most forgiving soul, always ready with a second chance, and then a third, always waiting for the best in someone .. yes, with this woman, for me, I wanted to be a better man than the day before, and better than all the yesterday’s together.

Each of them has now passed away along with her, and with each loss of these dear souls, a little bit of life’s luster dims in our daily lives as we can only remember as they were in our past. And with the loss of these siblings, our family is also confronted in our thoughts that turn to our Jesse Daniel, who was a red-headed ginger boy like my wife, his Nana, a young man whose life was senselessly taken in a dark alley by firearms and left to expire on a cold night in January. Yes, we are bitter in that month.

Our Jesse Daniel and his Nana shared, not only the red ginger hair, but also the date they were born, 11 January – and to make matters more difficult to embrace, they also share in the day of their having passed on from this life – 28 January. This, too, was how it was for my Susan’s own dad, Robert, who also then passed away on that same date in 1986, how will our family ever see January with the fervor our Susan Grace who wanted tomorrow’s day to come and so share her joys with family! No Goodbyes for you and I my sweet but yes, a deepening sorrow, leaving family somewhat lost for some time since, without her little face, without her warm presence, we are no longer certain how we can find our way when it would be her, it will be she that we look for without success, yet I promised her I would!

Yes, I will – in spite of the pain for loss, I will reach for those same tomorrow’s we sought together. January will be a long month of mourning for our family’s losses and for many years to come as we’ll think of those lost to us – and my prayers are for my children & grandchildren whom are also hurting in all of this. To each of them I would say: may each of you, and your children, always reach for the tomorrow’s as she did, find the joy and kindness that exists in our family members and the blessings that are there for the taking – love and friendship. We have this even though we are hurting and a lil lost.

This is how I will remember you, my wife – for me you are like a movie star, and you took pity on this poor and often sorry soul and made my life a storybook of love and laughter, light and happiness each and every day of our years together. We will meet again soon and until then, all my love is yours . . .

In Remembrance of Susan Grace: a Letter to My Beloved Wife

You were so shy when we first met, 55 years ago during the summer of ’65 – how can I now contemplate your passing when you are yet alive in my heart, and in my soul? Our life together was like a storybook of love I might never have imagined could be mine, so loving a woman were you. What you wanted was for each day to come, and you would use every opportunity that such days provided to weave children, family and friends into the fabric of our life, and with such of an abundance of the love that you generously possessed!

You carried with you a sense of happiness that could overwhelm most every person that you would meet, and there was a strong sense of willingness in you to help anyone in need, whether a stranger or a friend. Unconditional love for everyone meant each of us in the family would seek you out for advice, or direction, or just a sense of encouragement. Each one of us benefited in the knowing of such a woman, whose love for God and for His Word, and your own devotion to it, made you the ideal woman and mother.

We are lost without your caring and kind presence in our lives, that soft but persistent voice, and always the love you carried within, to share with others. We will grieve for you each day until the time our own passing overtakes us, and we can once again share with you life’s blessings. It is our prayer that “the Only True and Living God” will hold your spirit close to Him for that time when He will say to us, “wake up!”

Susan, my beloved wife and best friend, mother and grandmother was preceded in passing by her: father – Robert G. Sanderson, mother – Marilyn F. Heilman, older sisters – Paula D. Guggisberg & Linda L. Anderson, brother – Richard G. Sanderson, and grandson – Jesse D. Harpool

and is survived by family members: husband – Michael W. Smith, daughters – Stacey L. Sirginous and Victoria M. Boese, along with a son – Michael C. Smith, all of whom are currently living in the Blue Springs, MO area.

by five grand daughters: Larissa Grace Huff, Miranda M. Boese, Rachelle C. Harpool, Rowan E. Smith, Regan Grace Smith

and at present, great grandchildren total eight: Tori Faith, Sebastian M., Caleb M., Jordan Grace, Emme, Jesse, Wyatt J. and Ellie Grace

Susan Grace was a dedicated member of the Blue Springs Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, seeking to help many “draw close to God,” and “to find Him while He may yet be found.” You are living within me, within us, through the decades of love and laughter together, and so, dear dear wife, while you yet live there in my heart and in my memory, I am your husband until I too have passed from this life. For you and I, there are no goodbyes, but rather, as I might say as though leaving the house to complete chores: “I will return home to you, soon as I can. I Love You, My Wife.” For now, I must await ‘your’ return home and please, make it as soon as you can. Until when next we meet, my beloved wife,

Always with Love and with a Spiritual Embrace
Your Devoted Friend, Forever Your Husband
Michael

We Remember Her Kindness, We Long to Hear Her Voice, We Mourn Her Going

For those who were well acquainted with my Susan Grace, her family is well aware that you are just as bereft of spirit as we are in the loss of our beloved mother and grandmother, my dear wife and a best friend. We do indeed “long to hear her soft voice” that spoke to others with love she felt in her heart and soul for everyone, her warm voice perhaps more like a song than words to those loving her.

This woman was a gift for us to delight in her company, one whose spirit was most evident when she was speaking with the people she had come to know over time and, whether young or old, well off or in need of aide, our Susan had kind words that may encourage such ones to see themselves perhaps as fortunate after all, and not quite so down as they had thought of themselves only moments before. Yes, she was a gift especially to family and so, without her presence, her voice, we mourn pitifully so.

Her smile would be like her, modest and somewhat subdued, saving the best for those she loved the most and in later years, perhaps that smile was a bit self-conscious while for us, it was lit up like our downtown KC – and it was her eyes that drew us all in to hear the warmth, such warmth that was in her voice. There was a kindness in it, a depth you could almost touch, and she seemingly was able to be in your shoes and feel your pain, or your sense of joy and would share these with you while trying to encourage you, even as we would hope to encourage her as health became an issue for her later.

All of these bits of personality and love would just ooze from within her as we talked in these last few years together for hours – man and woman, husband and wife nearly 48 years – we could talk a night away in the living room, or when we were sometimes traveling together by car, how I miss this so very much! There was a way about her that was captivating, a subtle manner of reserved character that did not beg terse remarks, certainly no unseemly language but, she wasn’t one to judge just because one might lack self-control or having a rough time. My Susan was a most forgiving soul, always ready with a second chance, and then a third, always waiting for the best in someone .. yes, with this woman, for me, I wanted to be a better man than the day before, and better than all the yesterday’s together.

Each of them has now passed away along with her, and with each loss of these dear souls, a little bit of life’s luster dims in our daily lives as we can only remember as they were in our past. And with the loss of these siblings, our family is also confronted in our thoughts that turn to our Jesse Daniel, who was a red-headed ginger boy like my wife, his Nana, a young man whose life was senselessly taken in a dark alley by firearms and left to expire on a cold night in January. Yes, we are bitter in that month.

Our Jesse Daniel and his Nana shared, not only the red ginger hair, but also the date they were born, 11 January – and to make matters more difficult to embrace, they also share in the day of their having passed on from this life – 28 January. This, too, was how it was for my Susan’s own dad, Robert, who also then passed away on that same date in 1986, how will our family ever see January with the fervor our Susan Grace who wanted tomorrow’s day to come and so share her joys with family! No Goodbyes for you and I my sweet but yes, a deepening sorrow, leaving family somewhat lost for some time since, without her little face, without her warm presence, we are no longer certain how we can find our way when it would be her, it will be she that we look for without success, yet I promised her I would!

Yes, I will – in spite of the pain for loss, I will reach for those same tomorrow’s we sought together. January will be a long month of mourning for our family’s losses and for many years to come as we’ll think of those lost to us – and my prayers are for my children & grandchildren whom are also hurting in all of this. To each of them I would say: may each of you, and your children, always reach for the tomorrow’s as she did, find the joy and kindness that exists in our family members and the blessings that are there for the taking – love and friendship. We have this even though we are hurting and a lil lost.

This is how I will remember you, my wife – for me you are like a movie star, and you took pity on this poor and often sorry soul and made my life a storybook of love and laughter, light and happiness each and every day of our years together. We will meet again soon and until then, all my love is yours . . .