In Memory - Sue Smith

On Monday, December 8, my Aunt Sue died one year to the day after her Father, my Grandfather, died. She fought a long battle with cancer, years filled with travel, friends and family. She did not waste the extra time she had won.

Aunt Sue was my father's sister. She was that one relative in every family who moves from the family to live in a far-away, exotic state. Until recently, I never knew why she and Uncle Stephen moved to Florida but it didn't matter. She enjoyed her life there and if we didn't see her too often, then our visits were that much more special.

The first "big" trip I ever took was with my parents, my brother, and my maternal grandparents to Florida where over two weeks we saw pretty much every tourist attraction there was. We stayed only briefly with Sue and Stephen, but the memory of that vacation has stayed with me. We followed up that trip with many more over the next 35 years and I have had the pleasure of taking my kids down there enough times that they also know and love Aunt Sue.

We were able to visit her this year, over the summer. We knew it was the last time and although we couldn't do much together but talk and eat, we had a nice time and were able to spend a lot of time with her.

She was a very nice woman who loved life. Within the last twenty years she became a certified barbecue judge, first MIM then KCBS, with Uncle Stephen and traveled all over the United States, making friends. They got us interested in Barbecue and now Carol and I are also certified MIM judges.

She fought a long, tough fight, and lived a good life too. We'll miss her.