2020 was a rough year for almost everyone, but it was worse for 88-year-old Sue Grandi.
First, she lost her husband to Parkinson’s, then her grandson died unexpectedly at 35. Cancer took her daughter and before the year was over, her brother, sister, and dog were gone too. Sue said, “In the depths of the grief, I thought surely I must be the only person in the world that is hurting like this."
For a while, it was hard to find joy, so Sue turned to her faith and found a way to use what got her down to instead, lift herself up.
“It was just one day when I woke up, it was like, ‘ok, enough of this self-pity. Get up. Do something productive,’” So she started by dedicating more of herself to the opera training she’d begun years earlier at Dallas College’s Brookhaven campus.
Then, together with her daughter, Merry Miller, she published a series of children’s books called “Eddie’s Amazing Adventures.”
After that, she created a business and non-profit called Sisters Sewing Kindness. Together with her sister, Grandi has sewn and donated hundreds of blankets to people in need. She said she’s doing more for others than ever before.
“There’s a lot to be grateful for,” Grandi said. “Much more to be happy about than sad about.”
She’s not only happy, but she’s also confident. That’s why, last year, she competed in the Ms. Texas Senior America pageant --- and won.