Suzy Toronto

SUZY TORONTO:

How to Become a ‘Wonderful, Wacky Woman’

“I’m a Big Kid who never grew up!” she said. “My most prized worldly possession is my annual pass to Walt Disney World,” Who feels like this? Suzy Toronto, creative artist and author of the Wonderful Wacky Women books, calendars, cards and things. She also speaks for many of us: “Life is all about how you handle Plan B!”

“I love positive energy, the uplifting feeling that embraces the inner most part of your being,” She said.

Suzy Toronto is a tall, vivacious blonde artist of Inspirational Art fame. She was born in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, on October 5, 1957, two years before Hawaii became a state. The same year that Russia launched Sputnik into space making us look to the stars. The same year the Universe gave us a bright shining star of our own named Suzy.

Her first memory is at the beach with her mother. Barely two years old, she had been given a task: “Suzy, please fill these pails with water,” her mother said. She wanted to relax and Suzy was a very active child. When little Suzy finished filling the three plastic pails, her mother “accidently” tipped them over. “Oh, Suzy, could you fill them again?” Suzy remembers thinking her mommy “was a nice lady, but she sure was klutzy!”

Growing up in Hawaii along with her sister was a comfortable life. So, when did she become aware of her talent for drawing?

“Well, I always doodled. But in the second grade, there was this interscholastic contest where we were supposed to draw the theme, “Christmas in Hawaii”. I remember looking at the other kids’ papers and thinking, “I’m SO going to win this thing!” And she did. She won the school’s contest and went on to win the state contest as well. Drawing had always been in her DNA going back through her mother and her grandmother. Her grandfather had been a gifted fine artist and also did technical engineering drawings. Her mother’s numerous artworks hang on the walls of prestigious Hawaiian hotels.

After graduating high school, she went to Utah for college, to Brigham Young University. It was there an amazing discovery changed her life.

A quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson opened her eyes:

“…To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived…”

“I’ve always wanted to make a difference, to inspire, to lift others up,” she said. “So, I decided to compliment one person every day…even if it was just telling someone that I liked their shoes. Well, it was amazing! After one week, I had so many people around me that were friends. My world expanded. The positive energy surrounding me was incredible!”  It was life altering…and college was a good time for her.

But, life wasn’t always so easy.

“The scariest moment of my life was at age 22,” she said. “I was suffering from Toxic Shock Syndrome brought on by some ruptured ovarian cysts. In the hospital, I remember overhearing my doctors discussing the need to cut off both my feet and three fingers because of the health situation. I was dying from the outside inward.”

Miraculously, the health situation improved enough that the amputations became unnecessary. But a year later, she was in the hospital, again. This time, with Endometriosis and she was septic, again.

“I don’t remember how I got to the hospital, only waking up the next morning and seeing the doctor at my bedside,” she recalled. “He said, ‘Suzy, I’m so sorry…we had to do an emergency hysterectomy. You’ll never be able to have children.” It was Mother’s Day, May 10, 1981.

“I just remember being so angry with him,” she said. “Maybe I would never give birth to kids …but, I would be a mother. I was determined this event would not stop me, regardless of what he said.”

Being on her own since going to college, she had worked her way through as a hair stylist. After college, she opened her own hair salon. During those years, she also married. But, after nine years, there was a divorce and, then, she adopted a son. Suzy was one for moving on.

Eventually, friends wanted her to meet someone else, but, she wasn’t interested. She had a list of 12 qualifying features another man in her life would have to possess. But, no one ever came close to them. Until, one day, someone DID make her list…on all points…and Suzy agreed to go out with him. He was a professor at the University – his name was Al Toronto. A widower with four children, she met him on August 22, 1987.

“From the moment I opened the door and saw him, I knew I would marry him,” she said.  Later, he told her he had felt the same. They were married one month later on September 22^nd, some 30 years ago.

“After that, I sold the solon because I wanted to be a full-time wife and mother. Over the next years, she and her family left Utah and went to live in Idaho.

“Because of the five children, I became very involved with parents’ groups and school activities. I did all the poster and artwork for school events…made cute little cards for all my friends on their special occasions. There was a good body of work scattered among them.”

Her friends began encouraging her to exhibit her drawings in local art shows, but she would talk the idea down. Eventually, she agreed to do it, and gathered all the cards and posters she had given to everyone. At the local show, her character items sold “like hotcakes”!

“But, it’s only a local show in Idaho,” Suzy said. With continued encouragement from her friends, she and her husband went to Seattle. Again, the art exhibit went exceedingly well. Again, she demurred. “But, it’s only…”

“Suzy,” her husband said, “Let’s go see your folks in Florida. There are people from all over the world there.”

“So, we went with enough product to attend five Art and Craft Fairs.” She said. “When we sold everything out by the third show, I, finally, believed there was something happening.”

Not long after, their youngest child graduated high school and was out on his own. So, Suzy and her husband bought a van and began traveling to art and craft shows. “We did 36 art shows in twelve months. We lived in hotels, and I kept honing my skills: writing, drawing characters, and seeing what people wanted…taking inventory and seeing which products sold better.

By this time, producing her own product began taking a toll, so she and her husband started looking for a greeting card company to produce her works. She found most companies liked her drawings, but wanted shorter copy. Unwilling to sacrifice her style, she, kept looking until she found Blue Mountain Arts. “Their copy was a lot like my own…long and inspirational with emotion,” she remembered. She approached a representative and announced, “Hi, I’m your newest line in cards!”

It was a complete fit.  In 2007, Suzy Toronto joined Blue Mountain Arts as one of their celebrated members.

Now, Blue Mountain handles production and distribution, and Suzy enjoys doing what she loves: drawing and writing. The daily side of business is handled by her husband and four employees locally, while the warehouse is in Oregon. Speaking at a recent Blue Mountain Arts group meeting, Suzy told them: “It is so great that we can give voice to those less able to find words…we are changing lives.”

“But, I still go to Art and Craft Fairs!” she said emphatically. “That’s where I get ideas and keep in touch with my audience. It’s where I find what works and what doesn’t. If someone asks for a certain theme, I say, ‘Just give me a minute’, and I’ll draw something or write a few lines.”

Finding her in a booth is a delightful surprise for attendees. “You’re Suzy? What are you doing here?” She mingles with customers and rings up sales, keeping a stream of conversation going while assessing what character or emotion will be needed next.

Does she feel rewarded for her work? Is she making a difference?

Suzy tells exactly how she knows:  At one show, a young woman strolled by with a baby. Naturally, Suzy complimented the cute baby.

“She’s here because of you,” the woman replied. Suzy answered with a smile.

“No,” the young woman insisted, “You don’t understand: She is…here… Because of You. I. am. here..Because of You!” And, then, the story unfolded:

The young woman had gotten pregnant. Because she had been brought up by very strict parents, she felt there was nowhere to turn. Becoming deeply depressed, she had planned to kill herself. She had written letters and organized final details of her life. Then, during that period of calm just before the Deed, she received a card from her mother. It was a Suzy Toronto card about “She Who Is My Daughter”. It expressed how much a mother loves her child…no matter what. After receiving that card, the daughter sobbed and thought, “I can never let my mother find me dead. I just couldn’t do that to her.” As a result, she was able to feel their love and resolve her desperate situation with her parents who welcomed her and the coming birth.

“Just as I get frustrated, I’ll receive a letter that uplifts me,” Suzy said. “And, I can breathe easier, again,”

One such letter came from a young man who spoke of his mother’s passing. During the days between her death and her funeral, the son had received a card in the mail sent by his mother. It was a Suzy Toronto card with the loving message of My son, I love you… “I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to get that from her,” his letter said. “I will cherish it forever.”

“I’m a spiritual person,” Suzy said. “And when I go to church, I take a journal and draw ideas I get from the sermons. I believe that we should stop-look-listen to each other and help each other be lifted up.”

Does she have any regrets?

“Yes! How can you not re-evaluate your life? When I became a mom, I was so wrapped up in being perfect that, now, I regret it. (The author) Erma Bombeck once said, ‘…dishes can wait…I wish I would have taken more time with the kids.’ Back then, I was too hyper, now I think – who cares if things aren’t perfect? But, it takes time and age to say, ‘some things can wait’.”              

And the future…?

Coming out soon, is a book for the younger set. Among Suzy’s words of wisdom, she encourages: “Don’t Do Dumb Stuff.”

“Everybody messes up,” she said, “Atonement is about making mistakes.” …and learning from them.  So, another line will encourage hitting the ‘reset’ button.  A poster says: “When you stumble, make it part of the Dance.”  One of her books suggests: “Life is a work of heart…make yours a masterpiece!”

So, what has she learned in her lifetime?

She writes this:

“I learned patience when I was tested more than I thought possible—and learned to laugh about it. I learned tolerance in situations that nearly broke me –and learned to laugh about that, too….

“And now…I am still laughing. I laugh at my kids, my husband, my aging parents, my grandkids, my business, and, most of all, myself…”

“I feel really grateful that when my mother died last year, she KNEW how much I adored her. She was an amazing woman and I left nothing unsaid.” Emotion was in her voice. “If I would die tomorrow, I hope I would be remembered as having lived a life worth loving. I would tell people to ‘Stop. Listen. Learn’. If we can master that, we can become the Eternal Beings we are all meant to be.”

p.f. howard, rn 11-17-17