Stuff post love No.1

Dear Susie,

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the Stuff Page. I go to this discovery every day with great curiosity and joy. The way you propose life gives me wings!  I wish you a beautiful spring day!

Myriam

Ah, thank you, Myriam. I love doing the Stuff Posts. It is a way of remembering for me too.

Love, Susie x

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Great Stuff Posts! I’ve always felt the deep beauty and anguish in that John Lennon song. Thank you for putting it back in my ear.  Have a lovely weekend, Wives!

Ruth

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Hi Susie, I just wanted to say how much I love your charming Stuff Page. Blessings to you and your family,

Philomena

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What a reward it is, for enduring the week, to find the email with updates to the Stuff Page waiting for me Friday morning. Thank you for your little gifts of words. ♡

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Dear Susie,

I hope one day soon as possible because the time goes away to have the honour and the possibility to buy or wear a dress of your because they are really the essential of elegance and sensual style. I adore Edvard Munch and I feel love for his art. Thank you for let me imagine a world ever seen.

Best regards,

Love Francesca

Puberty by Edvard Munch

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Dear Susie,

Thank you for the Stuff Page. I really do appreciate your musings on the endeavours that inspire you. The Stuff Page vignettes have introduced me to some beautiful artists who make life more meaningful, by encountering their work. Sandy Denny was a revelation - how have I lived this long and not heard her sublime songs before? And yet, I’m also very familiar with some of your recommendations - like Joan Didion and The Guest House by Rumi. I so love the sensibility of this writing and its response to grief and loss.

I wonder if you have read the Wordsworth poem ‘Surprised by Joy’? It appears in the poetry anthology Poems that make Grown Men Cry - as you’d know, your husband selected a poem for the anthology. It is a poem about the exquisite paradox of holding grief while continuing to live with purpose and intent.

Another eloquent, heart felt account of the struggle with this paradox is Laurie Anderson’s film ‘Heart of a Dog’. Have you seen it? Since you have given me so much through your recommendations - I thought I could be so bold as to return the favour.

So my gratitude to you for sharing what you do on the Stuff Page.

Warmest regards, Fiona

Dear Fiona,

Thank you so much for the Wordsworth recommendation. I did not know it. It is a beautiful poem and so completely true. It is the pang of joy - the desire to share the moment of sudden beauty with the one who isn’t there. I know it well. I’ve printed the poem here. It really is quite lovely.

And Laurie Anderson’s film Heart of a Dog is such a treasure. My husband and I and our two dogs, Otis and Nosferatu went to a concert Laurie put on especially for dogs. It was such a lovely idea. Total canine chaos!

Thanks so much for you letter,

Much love, Susie

 With my little dog, Nosferatu.

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Surprised by joy – impatient as the wind

Surprised by joy – impatient as the wind
I turned to share the transport – Oh! With whom
But thee, long buried in the silent tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind –
But how could I forget thee? - Through what power,
Even for the least division of an hour,
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
To my most grievous loss? – That thought's return
Was the worse pang that sorrow ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;
That neither present time nor years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.

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So you get this all the time... but here goes anyways. Next time you and your husband are in Adelaide I would love to catch up. I love your clothes but will never be skinny or rich enough to buy. But I love your emails even if voyeurism is as close as I can get and now the girlie fandom. The poet who is your husband brings the smile to my face.  I grew up with the Mercy Seat. The Ship Song reminds me of my dad and the love songs make me smile. I saw your darling husband in Adelaide but due to my MS I got the cheap seats. What I am trying and failing to say is you make him better even though I thought it was not possible

I don't expect a reply. I turn 50 next year. Just thank him for me as I thank you for inspiring him,

Sharyn

Dear Sharyn,

I just read your letter to my husband. He is amused by the idea that I make him better! I have made him a little softer, I think, and he has made me a little tougher. We probably both needed that! And I’ve sourced some very beautiful, less expensive fabric from Poland and we are working on a line of dresses that more affordable.

Much love to you, Susie x

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Thank you all for your letters. It is wonderful to know people are reading the Stuff Posts! 

With love, Susie

Main photograph - Dominique Issermann
Other photographs - the husband