Susannah's Journey

There was always something about summer that seemed to belong to Susannah. It wasn't just the way she opened the windows wide at Cousins Beach and let the ocean air rush through the house. It was the way she believed-truly believed-that summers could heal, that sunshine and saltwater could hold families together when everything else felt uncertain and her journey began long before Belly and the boys ever understood it. As a young woman, Susannah had carried within her a longing for a life full of beauty, even in the smallest things. She painted seashells with her boys, filled every room with flowers, and wore dresses that swayed like the tides. To Susannah, joy wasn't optional-it was necessary but what no one saw, not at first, was how fiercely she fought for that joy. She carried grief and pain quietly, in the pauses between laughter. When her illness returned, she could have let fear take over. Instead, she chose Cousins, the house by the sea, and the people she loved most. She chose to make memories that would outlast her and her journey was never about perfection-it was about presence. She taught Conrad the importance of responsibility, even if he took it on too heavily. She reminded Jeremiah to laugh freely, even when the world tried to dim his light. And she showed Belly what it meant to step into womanhood with both grace and courage though Susannah's story was not one of endings, but of beginnings. Because even when she wasn't there, she was. In every shell on the shore, every summer night around the fire, every unspoken "I love you" that hung in the air. Her journey lived on through them, through the love she left stitched into their summers and in that way, Susannah never really left Cousins Beach. She became part of it-like the tide, like the stars-forever returning, forever shining.