What did I learn from Sissy?

 Life...(Living!) has it's adversities. Some of it can be controlled if we are paying attention.  Some of these adversities are completely out of our control.  Sissy was able to celebrate the good things and address adverse issues in her life that may have caused others to choose to give up. When finished with these things...She would move on.  By example, Sissy taught me to never give up. By example, she taught me that the world has mean people in it but you do not have to be mean yourself. By example, she taught me to care for family even if this care is not returned in kind. Sissy was not perfect but she was able to make the best of her life given the environment in which she lived. She was not a social person but was happy see family members when we visited.  Sissy deserved more but accepted what was given and made the best of it. She will be missed by her siblings. 

Love Chuckie

Ich bin dankbar eine freundliche und nette Person wie Dich kennengelernt zu haben. Du hattest immer so von mir geschwärmt und die Worte, die Du dabei benutzt hattest, waren so süß. Ich danke Dir dafür. 

Wie gern hätte ich Dir Deinen Urenkel Dir vorgestellt. Ich habe ihm von Dir erzählt und er wäre Dir sehr gerne begegnet. Sicherlich werdet ihr Euch zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt und an einem besseren Ort irgendwann begegnen und dann wirst Du seine kräftige, liebevolle und warmherzige Umarmung spüren. Du hättest Dich in deinen Urenkel verliebt. 

Ich werde Dich vermissen, doch die Momente mit Dir immer in guter Erinnerung und im Herzen behalten. 

Deine Özden Süzgün-Parker 

& 

Dein Eli Rain Çinar Parker (great-grandchild)

My memories are few but set deep within my heart.

My first recollection was when she lived in Beltzhoover close to downtown Pittsburgh. She asked if I could come visit her and possibly keep an eye on her young daughters. I was pretty young myself but able to navigate the trolley to get to her house. Spent most of the day getting to know her better. Part of the evening giving her a break. Had to catch the trolley back home early. I could tell how difficult things were for her but enjoyed my visit.

When she moved to the North Side of Pittsburgh I visited her again but was not permitted to stay long because of the reputation of the neighborhood.

We then visited her in Cleveland on our way to Mexico. There were a lot of family members there at this time and we had an interesting but good time.

After this, there were many phone calls, birthday greetings, and how are you doing calls. They were all pleasant and provided catch up love that was missed from a “in person “ visit.

In 2014 Bonnie and I visited Pittsburgh and we were able to spend some quality time with her. She treated Bonnie (my wife) like her very own sister. The smiles and hugs shared will always be with me.