Susie Ambry (January 2, 1950 ~ April 24, 2019)
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| SIMON LIPSTEIN |
It is a mark of the depth and breadth of one's life when people know you and love you for entirely different things. So it was with Susie Ambry, a dear friend of 50 eventful years.
Some people knew Susie as a whirling dervish at the many Grateful Dead concerts she attended back in the day, often with longtime love Simon at her tie-dyed side.
Some people knew Susie as the longtime proprietress of the Malt Shoppe -- the rare woman running a business on Main Street in Newark, Delaware -- if they were one of the many employees she mentored or the regulars for whom her shakes, bagels or sprinkles-topped ice cream cones were daily gotta haves.
Some people knew Susie as a pre-school teacher and later an elementary school teacher's aide.
Some people knew Susie as wife and mother to Juri and Kat and maîtresse of their wonderful hilltop home and gardens in the woods.
While I am way too old to have sat behind one of the wee desks in Susie's classrooms, I was fortunate enough to know her in all those other lives and am inestimably wiser and richer for that, insofar that humility can be considered a thing of value, which I do.
Susie was no simple Capricorn. Practical and disciplined yes, but she was able to balance two sometimes diametrically opposite qualities in her own inimitable way -- being deeply spiritual and having a wonderful sense of humor. Her's was a laugh for the ages.
Susie left this mortal coil after a long battle with cancer that she somehow had kept winning. Until the very end.
19 comments:
Thank you Shaun. This is a really tough one.
It is with much sadness that I read your beautiful and thoughtful report on Susie's passing. What a wonderful human being.
Thank you for sharing, Shaun. Beautifully written. My first memory of Susie was riding in a van to see the Dead in NYC, with Simon behind the wheel. So very sad. My heart is with her family and friends.
Thank you, Shaun, for sharing your lovely tribute to Susie’s beautiful life! Peace & love.
Devastating.
She was ]a woman I admired, very much.
I loved her herb garden.
I loved her bathroom, that looked like an art gallery with the essence of the ocean in sparse beauty.
I loved her circle of women friends.
I loved her laugh.
Thank you for making me aware of Susie's passing and taking me back to Newark Shaun. It's a quiet morning here and I had just listened to a recording of the Grateful Dead at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium from April 22, 1978. I attended that concert (TN was home back then) and witnessed Jerry, Bob and Phil simultaneously break a string!
Moving words & memories Shaun. You, I and many many more loved her. Thank you.
Thanks for your well spoken words Shaun. Since getting a call from Simon a bit ago, I have been dealing with my tears by allowing them to be soaked up by the songs of Sandy Denny, whose anniversary of her way too early passing was a few days ago, and some Jefferson Airplane, whose concerts were also frequently enhanced by Susie’s dancing. I will get to some Dead in a bit. For the record, Susie’s Birthday was January 2nd, shared with Barkie aka Mark Goodman. As I wrote to my friend Stephanie, who works in Oncology at U Penn, in response to her posting a piece on the death of Jerry Garcia, We’re All dying from the moment we are born- how we choose to spend those moments of our life between reincarnations determine our value to ourselves and others. I just learned my friend/lover Susie passed this morning- years with cancer. My tears are being absorbed by my soaking in the sounds of Sandy Denny and Jefferson Airplane. Om Nama Sivaya
Love & Peace PhillyVeggieDave Namaste
Sad news, delivered with such obvious affection. I only met Susie a few times, probably when she was still in high school. She was the younger sister of Meg--also claimed by cancer--my dear friend, roommate, and sometimes partner in crime. Thus this message made me doubly sad: two lovely women gone too soon.
All the best, Shaun.
Barbara, my many tears shed today, along with my music engorging and chanting, have encompassed thoughts of many fine friends no longer with us, and thoughts of Meg have been put in perspective with the help of the Fairport Convention song ‘Meet On The Ledge’. For Meg, Susie, Barkie, Rochelle and so many more, this is for All.
https://youtu.be/0bmSEHhIs-Q
A beautiful tribute to a great person - may I share this to the Memories of Newark Group?
Of course.
Thanks, Shaun. What a beautiful tribute. I'm so sad. What a strong woman she was!
Susie fought the good fight for a little over a year after her initial diagnosis. Throughout the chemo rounds, surgery, etc., etc., she was strong, brave, and hopeful.
It was a privilege to be part of her care team the last couple of weeks. Sue Demetri, sweet Mike, Diane, Joan, Lynn, and the Delaware Hospice group were the best. Kat is the most loving and devoted daughter anyone could hope to have.
David [Kreitzer], your writing was eloquent and heartfelt. To know Susie was to love her and I was blessed to have her in my “family” of intimate women friends for forty plus years. So much laughter, trips, and matinees.
If Facebook does actually reach the other side, as so many seem to think, Susie, you were a gift to us all and you had a life well lived.
Beautifully written & heartfelt back to times that pump through us to this day—when a Friend was a human you knew, loved & not a verb on social media. Blessings
Susie was a big part of the Snakegrinder and the Shredded Field Mice community of souls who made a difference in preserving the values of Peace and Freedom and Grateful Dead style Music. She will always be loved and adored by family and friends that chased the clouds and whispered to the winds. And danced with her under Medford skies...Always loved ....always missed...
Susi was an inspiration, a Goddess.
Rest in Peace.
Thanks Shaun, David, Kathy, George and the rest for your kind words and memories of Susie. We first met about 50 years ago this summer. For this morning, Sugar Magnolia has played in my head, so come along with me and dance to a long live version. "She's got everything delightful". From deep in my heart, love, Simon
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