The January 8th Memorial
Suzi Hileman - Survivor
Symbols by artist Rebeca Méndez
Healing Hand
As ‘grandmother in residence‘ at a local school, walks with the 5 year olds who help heal the hole in her heart
Weeks after the shooting Suzi was invited to visit a kindergarten class. Soon thereafter she was declared “Official Adopted Grandmother” by the class, welcome to come by anytime. While walking the playground, first with her stroller, then with her cane, the kids would walk with her, often singing “jingle bells” at 95 degree temperature, holding on to her arms, her fingers, her clothes. One kid told her mother: “Look, this is the lady we are healing, we are making her better.” And they did. It gave the kids agency over a horrible situation, where they could affect positive change. It is impossible to stay sad surrounded by 5-year-olds.
Egg and Feather
Her blog Ashleigh Burrows
Like the egg safely ensconced upon a bed of feathers in a nest, Suzi’s blog “Ashleigh Burrows” is her “safe, cozy and comfy nest,” where she since 2009 has written what will be her legacy by her own account. It is her daily assignment to write every weekday, and has become the best therapy, as she doesn’t know how she feels until her typing fingers tell her.
Hohokam Circle of Life
Stroll and roll / GRIN
Suzi initiated the Stroll and Roll, for elderly people and tiny people to join in the walks organized under the umbrella of Beyond Tucson, Ross Zimmerman’s initiative to honor his son Gabe. This evolved further into GRIN (GRandparents IN residence), an inter–generational mentoring program with a mission to promote, support and create opportunities for interactions between those who have time and those who have need.
Dragonflies
Native American symbol for transformation
The Native American symbol for dragonflies stands for departed souls, transformation and adaptability. When Christina was elected to the student council, Suzi wanted to nurture her little neighbor’s budding interest in public service and have her meet the Congresswoman. Suzi: “We were holding hands the whole time. I wish I could trade places with Christina. I had a life, a good life. There is a hole in my world, in my life. (…) Sometimes good can come out of something bad. Christina was heading for big things in her life. She’s gone and the world is a far, far lesser place. But I have a responsibility to her. We got into this together and we’re going to continue it together. I want to give the kids in this area and beyond the possibility of attaining those big things in life that Christina would have accomplished if her time hadn’t been cut short. I owe that to her memory.”
Lighthouse
Social worker / A guiding light
Suzi had a career as a social worker where she dauntlessly dealt with countless tragedies. In New York, she helped ease the grief of families who lost loved ones to cancer. In Chicago, she counseled people with spinal cord injuries, including young quadriplegics. At 23 she opened a home for severely retarded kids, which brought the neighborhood up in arms. For many, in the process of survival and recovery, she has been a guiding light, a beacon, much like a lighthouse.
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