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Picture of Suzanne writing in a journal One year ago I went live with https://www.suzannedinsmore.com/. Taking the Leap: Launching My Story After Stroke People had been encouraging me to tell my story about my stroke, at the time I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested. I had prepared for several months writing my first few blog posts, getting head shots (from Awa Dia), creating my website with GoDaddy but then switching over to Wix based on feedback from other creatives,

Suzanne watching the moon rise over Loon Mountain, New Hampshire By the time you are reading this, I will be on vacation! After all, I get to have 38 more summers (after my stroke)! Breaking a 14-Year Habit Prior to December 2023 that didn’t signify a meaningful difference from day-to-day life. I brought my work phone and laptop to every vacation I took for over 14 years (including my honeymoon). Leaving the Work Laptop Behind Since December 2023 I made a commitment to myself

Violet (the cat) looking at Sally (the turtle) Several months ago, my daughter Jackie read a chapter book at school called The Critter Club. I don’t actually know anything else about the book, but I do know that after school that day, Jackie came home and presented her latest entrepreneurial endeavor: her very own pet-sitting business. Over the course of the following weeks, we hired Jackie to “pet sit” our own animals if one of us went away. Yes, we paid our daughter money t

Solitary rock in the water Dear Mom, The last two months have involved a lot of preparation, grief, and processing. It is most obvious to myself, James, and Jackie, when I’m struggling with something because I have a hard time getting up in the morning. The alarm goes off; I roll over and turn it off. Everyone else in the house wakes up- James, Jackie, Sammy, Violet, Ginger- and I continue to sleep. Finally, about an hour later, I get out of bed, not exactly more well rested.

Suzanne, Suzanne, and Jackie in front of Washington's Headquarters I think if I am honest with myself Alzheimer’s had started loitering around the periphery of our lives a few years ago, like a stray cat that we were feeding at the back door. I feel like the last few weeks have been the culmination of lots of little learning in our family’s Alzheimer’s journey. Last May, when Mom and I were told she had Alzheimer’s, it felt like a tree had fallen through the roof of the docto

Picture of books on a shelf I was reminded of that this week by both my therapist and James. The words I have been choosing to describe my current season of life matter. On Monday, I told my therapist how at any point in time I feel like I am failing at something, the amount of things I am presently juggling make it impossible to be successful at all of them- taking care of myself, taking care of Jackie, taking care of Mom, being a supportive wife to James, taking care of...

Screenshot of Suzanne's Default Google Chrome view, a background of sand and no news alerts Prior to my stroke, most of my reading was around professional development. My therapist at the time suggested I try to read for fun. I didn't quite take her advice, but I did start reading for personal development and gain instead of focusing professionally. One of the first books I read in this new literary season was Happiness by Design by Paul Dolan, PhD. In the book, Dolan writes:

Suzanne (with an excited look on her face) in front of Suzanne Street in South Carolina A few months ago, after Mom moved in, I coordinated with my incredible Aunt so James and I could have a weekend away for the first time in 6 years! I was conscious of the concept that I should put my oxygen mask on first before helping others. I felt like it was good to have a getaway on the horizon and I requested that the focus of the weekend be that I didn’t have to take care of anythin

I took this picture of a bald eagle about to fledge from the nest in our yard in Maryland in May 2023. Like all of us, it had some living left to do. I went through a season of life where several friends lost their spouse unexpectedly. During this time, I mentally prepared myself in case James was to ever predecease me. I also made sure we had the appropriate estate documents witnessed and executed. When I woke up in December 2023 it shocked me that through that period and th

We have all heard this phrase: If you’re going through hell, keep going. The phrase is often attributed to Winston Churchill. James, Jackie, and I have all come to the realization over the last week that Mom living with us is getting easier. The exit from the honeymoon period/excitement of Grandma moving in was rough. I felt a bit overwhelmed by our new reality. Jackie felt like she wasn’t as excited when we went to Maryland because Mom was no longer there to visit. Additiona

We had a lovely holiday season and a very happy new year! I hope you did as well! We were able to fill it with lots of quality time with loved ones and zip lining! We continue to focus on experiences and time over material things, so Jackie’s big gift this year was a tree house and zip line built lovingly by James over the week after Christmas and before New Year’s! We had so many folks help build over the week, but James was the one constant. Not only is the tree house beaut

Somehow the holidays are upon us, and a new calendar year is just 12 days away! I don’t know about you, but the news has felt heavy this week. I considered not writing something due to all the pain that people are likely processing. I hope each of us and the world can find some measure of peace in the coming weeks. Give yourselves time to pause and breath and be thankful for what we do have and the people that surround us. I rarely take time to pause and reflect on my accompl

So, I realized this week that I haven’t written a post about our incredible dog, Sammy- don’t worry she didn’t die. I also thought as we enter mid-December chaos that everyone could use a good puppy picture! In November 2014, we had just gotten home from our honeymoon when we decided to go ‘look’ at a few dogs at St. Hubert’s. I insisted that if we didn’t find the right dog for us, then we would head home. James was convinced that we were not going to leave St. Hubert’s witho

A selfie of Suzanne in front of The Bar Method studio after her class! 2 years ago, today I had the worst headache of my life, a cavernous malformation bled in my brain, and I experienced a series of seizures rendering me unresponsive. Upon arrival at the Morristown Trauma center, I was hypoxic. I would spend the next 2 days unconscious and ventilated in the ICU. I do not remember most of that week, or even parts of the weeks leading up to the stroke. I slept through or don’t

I hope all my US-based readers had a Happy Thanksgiving! I could not carve out time last week to post a blog entry, and I decided to give myself grace and allow that to be ok. I realize that not everyone had the opportunity to go home to a place that is comforting for them for the Thanksgiving holiday, I consider myself very lucky to have solace in a place like the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Have you ever felt like a place completed you as a person? The Eastern Shore of Maryl

After I first had my stroke and came home from the hospital, my initial instinct was not to tell people. I didn’t want people to think if I misspoke that it was because of my stroke. I also wasn’t quite sure I had all the information about what happened to properly tell people. Towards the end of December 2023, I realized we needed recommendations for neurologists and neurosurgeons and it was time to tell people and see if they could give us references. Our friends and family

What is Faux Thanksgiving you may be asking yourself? For our combined family, it is a made-up holiday dating back to 2009. In 2009, James and I started dating earlier that year. We decided to ask our families how important it was to celebrate Thanksgiving on the actual day, thankfully both our families responded that it wasn’t that important. So, we moved Thanksgiving up a week or two (depending on the year), we also always seem to have a slightly different guest list than t

Suzanne's imperfect world map shower curtain Life, yourself, your spouse, your child is perfectly imperfect. Why do we expect everyone, including ourselves, to be perfect when the journey of life is imperfect? This was my deep thinking as I tried to shove our comforter into the comforter cover, I had washed on Monday. I hate washing the comforter cover because it’s such a pain to put it back on. Somehow once it’s washed the comforter also seems to no longer fit inside it, the

Since 2015, James and I have moved my Mom 4 times around 3 different states. In all those moves I never reviewed everything she packed along the way. I focused on cleaning out one place and getting her settled as much as possible into the new place. This past weekend the move was different. I ended up taking a few hours to really review what was being packed and ensure everything received the proper care it needed. Since my Mom's Alzheimer's diagnosis in May we have been maki

Yesterday I was playing with Jackie in her room when I heard a light knock on the front door. Thankfully our house happens to be across the street from a park and so Jackie has friends from the bus, school, or around the neighborhood that will knock on our door for her to come out to play. I absolutely love this! It is one of the few life experiences that overlaps from my childhood to Jackie’s. I grew up in a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. You were typically 1 d