Susan Jeanette Ayers, 71, passed away and left us, unexpectedly, and broken-hearted, never the same again, on Monday, November 29, 2021.
She was a force of a woman, loved by all, and bestowing love to and on anyone whom she encountered. The second you walked through her door, you were home, loved and accepted. You weren’t just a friend, you were family. She was everybody’s best friend, everybody’s second mother, She radiated and gave so much love to all and her loss is beyond tragic, and we are all lost without her.
She was joy and light, and loved to laugh and have others laugh with her. She had a lifetime of fun stories and memories to share, and loved creating new ones with her friends and relatives. She loved with everything she had in her, and that love extended everywhere.
After being married to Harpo for so long, his sarcastic and self-deprecating wit and skill with just the right thing said at just the right time of course rubbed off on her. She could trade barbs with the best of ‘em, and would sometimes come out with something that had us rolling, high-fiving her and just loving our life of sarcasm.
We very often said that normal is boring, that we should get that embroidered on a pillow. Life with Sue was never, ever boring, because she made everything fun. She worked so hard to take care of all of us, especially Traci, and would do anything to bring a little light into a dark day. She always said that “you’re only as happy as your saddest child”, and always tried to make sure that Traci was smiling and laughing at some point during hard days.
She loved to dance and sing as loud as can be, only in the privacy of her home and car, oh, especially the car with Traci, even if Traci had to teach her the correct way to sing rap songs (Not “Get Out of the Way”, Mom, it’s “Get Out The Way”.] Favorites included “Try A Little Tenderness” by The Commitments, and anything by Queen. We would often pull into the driveway and let certain songs play their full length before heading inside.
She loved her friends so much, loved the friends she’d known for seemingly a lifetime, loved every new friend that crossed her path. She was as real as they get with everyone – you met Sue, you got Sue, never a false pretense.
She loved her children’s friends. Even after losing Matt, she loved “the boys”, Matt’s closest friends, and loved watching them grow up and turn into “the guys”. She was so proud of them and loved hearing from them, seeing them, and just knowing of their exploits and successes and accomplishments.
The same can be said of Traci’s friends, “the tribe” as they became known. Sue loved them all, loved when they came over to visit, hang out, and dance and laugh with, stories literally pouring out from both the friends and Traci, and from Sue, herself. We laughed so hard, deep belly laughs and shrieks and giggles at the craziness and fun that could be found in memories and even simple moments.
When Traci was so ill in 2012, she never left her side, essentially living in the hospital with her for a month, sleeping in the most uncomfortable spots, but always there, even when her ankles swelled so badly from sleeping in those uncomfortable hospital recliners. She whispered to and prayed for Traci every day, telling her to fight like she’s never fought before, and it worked. She was essential in helping bring her daughter back.
She was so devoted to Theo and all of her fur babies. She was Theo’s sun, moon, and stars. He spent every moment possible with her, by her side. We’d say instead of ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’, it was ‘Mommy Had A Little Theo”, and surely everywhere that Mommy went, Theo was sure to go. He was her little squirt, the boy that she fell in love with at first sight. They had such a special relationship, sleeping together each night, nose-to-nose and cheek-to-cheek or little spoon/big spoon or right-tight, amongst other positions, but always close, always together. She loved to play rough with him, because he was a boy and boys play rough, even though he bit her and scratched her and made her bleed. He used to chase her ankles all over the kitchen if she wasn’t paying him just the right amount of attention, little ankle-biter that he is. They loved so much to do “bussies and baby”, a special thing between them.
She had such an amazing relationship with Harpo, surviving and surmounting so much, but always, always with even just a side of laughter. The laughter with which they created their home and life with was the laughter that helped, even just a little bit, to keep things going. They were each other’s best friends, a love story that carried on and continued across 45 years. Their love for each other made their home a soft-place to land, full and rich and supportive for all, their children, relatives and friends.
She and her sister Patricia were very close sisters, always there for each other when needed. They too shared a lifetime of love and memories, stories and laughter.
She was predeceased by her son, Matthew, in 2002; her parents, William and Jeanette Allen, and her brother, Bill Allen.
She is survived by her loving husband of 45 years, Harlan Ayers, who’s lives together faced both the best of times and worst of times, but who’s love stayed strong through it all, her daughter Traci Jeanette who was her best friend, soulmate, and who knew her better than anyone else, and vice versa, and her sweet boy, her “little squirt”, Theo, her cat who adored her as equally she adored him.
She is also survived by her sister, Patricia Allen, with whom she would cook up a feast with on holidays and just-because get-togethers, and many, many brother and sister-in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins and so very many special relatives and friends. As all agreed, Sue was not just an in-law, she was a sister, she was family, and her friends would agree. She filled that little niche in all of our lives that spelled welcome and home.
She was a retired nurse of over 40 years, touching many lives over that time. The doctors she worked for loved her, the people she worked with loved her. Her patients loved her. She went above and beyond to make sure everyone received the warm touch that nursing is all about. A Nurse’s job is never done.
Huge thanks to the Guthrie Wound Care Clinic and Guthrie ER for their prompt and immediate attention and care of Sue, and to the Nurses and Doctors at Wilson Hospital, namely the Neuro Intensive Care Unit, for their dedication and love given to her. Thank you for loving and caring for her as one of your own, thank you for the daily Face-Time calls that allowed for us to speak to her and see her. Thank you for caring for us, as well, through this good-bye process.
Private funeral services will be held at the family’s convenience. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later time. Expressions of sympathy in her memory may be made in her honor and memory to The Broome County Humane Society, 167 Conklin Avenue, Binghamton, NY 13903, and The Animal Care Council.131 Washington Avenue, Endicott, NY 13760.
We love you, Mama, and will never, ever forget you. We all will cherish the part of you that you shared with us, the whole of you that will go on forever. You were a once-in-a-lifetime person, our diamond-in-the-rough, an example and inspiration to so many. You were and will remain to be a true-north. Miss you so much.
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