Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Laughter….
That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I remember my Aunt Susan.
Susan was always larger than life…her stories were always bigger…her jokes always funnier…her life experiences always grander than most.
She grew up, as we all did, amongst the tobacco fields of Burford…experiencing the back breaking manual labor which taught us all the value of a hard day’s work. She yearned for more; and went off to study the sciences in the “Big Smoke”.
I remember that she was working on an Alzheimer's research project at the University of Toronto Lab back in the 70’s. My brother Jeff and I were invited to participate in a brain scan research study in Toronto, we took our first train ride from Brantford to Toronto, sans parents, to visit Suan in T.O. The research study opportunity fell through at the last moment, but we had a great weekend touring the facilities and experiencing the big city!
Susan hosted my first trip to Ottawa…touring the Parliament buildings and introducing me to my first Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich at Dunn’s Famous Deli. She also introduced us to a new place called “Swiss Chalet” which was, at the time, the new BIG thing…I wish I would have bought stock in that company back then.
Susan was the textbook example of a type “A” personality…She laughed…she danced…she sang…there were never any uncomfortable silences when she was around. She always returned, to the home farms, and she would regale us with her stories of far-off lands and her larger-than-life experiences…to this day I keep a simple “Kiwi” emblem from her travels to New Zealand.
She would arrive at our Harley farm in her dark blue Datsun B210 coupe…and twitter about upon her arrival… dancing and singing …doing her best impression of Shirley Temple singing the “Good Ship Lollypop”…She never let “the kid” within her be extinguished.
Susan would always return to the Quittkat Homestead, on the Woodbury Road, each December…Christmas always brought the Quittkat side of the family together for our annual reunion. The house was full of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grand Parents and Grandchildren. The house was full of Quittkat’s, Blank’s, Lipcsik’s, and Vermuelen’s. I remember that Susan would regularly chide me about my “excessive use of expensive ketchup” at these gatherings…Yet sill in my early teens, I bested her by wrapping a bottle of Heinz ketchup and gifting it to her at our next Christmas gathering….Her laughter was loud, long, and sincere.
I’m so glad that we had Susan in our life…although fleeting, Susan’s journey often reminds me of the importance of being silly…and creating memories for ourselves, our families, and our friends.
I will miss you Susan…and hope that someday, my friends, and relatives will continue to remember the good stories and laugher long after, all of us, are gone.
Rest in Peace Aunt Susan.
Love, Michael, Michelle, Brittany, and Nicholas Lipcsik
