Guest Writers & Contributors ELDER WISDOM


S


ylvia (Gross) Sucher will celebrate her 101st birthday on July 13, 2013 in Santa


Rosa. Like most stories, hers is one that "didn't come out the way you write the script," according to this former eng- lish teacher.


The eldest of three children


born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Sylvia started overcoming obstacles at age 4 when she developed polio. Her mother would not let her feel sorry for herself and saw it as a challenge to overcome and made sure


Sylvia


the exercises she needed to regain strength.


Her moth-


er also became the primary family wage-earner when Sylvia's father suffered "ner- vous breakdowns" and mul- tiple hospitalizations through-


did


out her childhood. As an enterprising woman, Mrs. Gross opened a grocery store where the family lived in three small rooms in the back of the store. Sylvia recalled her mother getting up at 5:30 each morning to accept 30-gallon cans of milk she would wheel into the store. Back then, patrons would bring quart-size pitchers or cans to fill up for their families.


The baby of the


family, Rosalie, was born when Sylvia was 14, and her mother arranged for Sylvia to leave school at noon to be her "assistant." She always


made Sylvia feel like she had a very important job to do and was truly making a dif- ference. Despite this expec- tation, her mother was very committed to Sylvia's educa-


UPBEAT TIMES • April 2013 • 6 by Eloise Tweeten Sylvia Sucher at 100 • With A Little Help From Mom...And Other Mentors


tion and supported her con- tinuing education at Brooklyn College despite the predomi- nant attitude at the time that a woman shouldn't go to col- lege. However, the tides were beginning to change on the brink of World War II and Mother was out in front of the pack! Sylvia strongly believes that to succeed in life, "no one does it alone." She feels for- tunate to have had many men- tors along the way, her mother first and foremost.


Another


was the person who gave Sylvia the opportunity to run the small campus bookstore at Brooklyn College while she was still in school.


JOKES & Humor # 3 You Need a New Fortune Teller If:


...every time you draw a card, she yells "Go Fish!"


...he looks suspiciously like the guy who fixed your muffler last week.


...her spoon bending requires a pair of pliers.


...he insists that your astrological sign is "The Armadillo."


...she shakes her crystal ball, then predicts a heavy snowstorm.


She Born here?


ultimately developed it into a good sized business dur- ing her tenure as the manager before going on to become a high school english and speech teacher. As fate would have it, shortly after college gradua- tion Sylvia was asked by the Dean of Women if she would give a young man in her class a job at the bookstore who had graduated Summa Cum Laude in Physics, but was unable to find work at that


time. She started him at 50¢ hour.


Eventually this young


man became a physics profes- sor at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. His name was Max Sucher and, you guessed it, also became Sylvia's hus- band. She fondly remembers


Continued on page 8...


happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can't wait to finish your breakfast. You can't wait to do your exercises. You can't wait to put on your clothes. You can't wait to get out - and you can't wait to come home, because the soup


is hot. George Burns


Call For Move In


CHECK IT OUT! sonomacountybaby.com 2 Locations!


707-546-0000 StorageMasterSR.com


6 • April 2013 • UPBEAT TIMES To win without risk is to triumph without glory. ~ Pierre Corneille Specials Everyday


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24