A story about Squiress Susie
We would like to tell you a story about a lovely Squiress named Susie…
In 2015, we organised a ‘Homecoming Event’ and invited all our Squires, Squireens and Squiresses to visit their land, as well as visit many of the best attractions on our island. We made lifelong friendships with everyone.
Susie and her son Chris joined this ‘Homecoming Event’.
Our hearts were utterly broken when Chris recently contacted us to tell us that, our friend Susie had passed away.
We remember her story so fondly, and her son Chris has given us permission us to share itwith you all.
On the day we took Susie to visit her land, (there were no trees planted back then). Our visiting Squires, Squireens and Squiresses, were the first ever to plant their own family tree. Susie was a typical determined Irish woman through and through. She point blank refused any help and insisted she dug that hole, and planted the Irish native tree, all by herself! Never would I have realised the significance of her doing all this work back then, but Susie did, and we definitely do now.
Still totally undeterred by her health issues, Susie came back to visit again. I was overjoyed to meet up with her and Chris. She was an incredible woman, who never allowed her deteriorating health stand in her way, showing amazing tenacity in the face of adversity. She was an example to us all.
I wrote to Chris and asked him to share his memories of visiting his land with his Mom,and this is what he said:
"When my Mom first learned of Emerald Heritage back in 2015, it was from a sidebar advertisement on Jody's (Ireland Family Vacations) website. She joined Emerald Heritage without a second thought, though the Gathering was a more daunting prospect. Neither of us had travelled outside the U.S. before and while I didn't want her to travel alone, I really wasn't that keen on going. She tried for months to find someone else to accompany her, but between the timing and the expense, I was the last option and I reluctantly got my passport. To be clear, it wasn't that I didn't want to visit Ireland, it was the fact that having travelled with my Mom on other occasions, I knew the work that would be involved. My role of bodyguard, travel agent, alarm clock and pack-mule did not endear me to this trip. It did not bode well that on the day we left, despite having driven this particular highway for years on the way to the airport, we missed our exit. We still made it in time, only to be informed that the airline had "overbooked" the flight. We rarely fly, so we didn't know what this meant, but we were determined to be on this flight! Thankfully, we found out that's just a sneaky way for the airlines to move passengers to a better seat, so we got to board the flight anyway.
The flights from the U.S. only connect to Dublin Airport, so we had booked a bus to take us from Dublin to Belfast, though if we missed this bus, we would be stranded. We made it, barely, only to realize that we did not have a native phone to call Lyn and that we would be in downtown Belfast on Sunday morning, not sure if there would be a shop open to purchase a cell phone. But, as my Mom had told me, she believed in "Signs and Portents", that her Irish ancestors were guiding her on this trip. As soon as we departed the bus, there was Lyn and Freddie (Lyn’s father-in-law) with the 'Wee Bus" he had rented for those of us who were attending The Gathering! From that moment on, it was a wonderful whirlwind of a vacation! With great sights, good people and fantastic food! Thank you, Lyn for giving me and my Mom the experience of a lifetime!"
Reading and reflecting on Chris’s memories of being here with Susie, brought happy tears to my eyes.
Emerald Heritage has never been in the business of making millions. We are in the business of building lasting friendships, cherishing memories, and making the miles between us even smaller, all whilst doing good things for this wee Island. Chris’s memories helped us feel like we have, in some small way achieved that.
We will always remember you Susie, as the wonderful woman that we were so graciously blessed to call our friend.
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