Ode to Suzanne Somers, by Gina Meyers

Ode to Suzanne Somers

by Gina Meyers

 I wasn’t really introduced to Suzanne Somers conventionally. I was too young and impressionable to watch Three’s Company and my mother said there was “too much sexual innuendo” in it, and so instead I watched Bewitched via syndication, and subsequently wrote three large compediums and a bunch of smaller versions of my Bewitched Television trivia books and cookbooks. LOL. 

Like, there’s absolutely no sexual connotations in Bewitched!

Sarcasm aside, I absolutely LOVED Suzanne Somers and what her BRAND represented.

She and her husband in my humble opinion were masterful and so darn helpful to the world.

That’s why I use the word, devastated when I heard the news a few days ago of her passing.

She lived her life on her own terms and from what I saw from afar reminded me why she worked so hard to stick around--Life is a wonderful adventure which can be full of love, kindness, and joy.

On many occasions these days, you can see me with a version of The  Millionaire Next Door book in my purse, alongside one of my favorite Suzanne Somer’s books such as Ageless.

Scanning through her loads of informational you tubes, ensuring I watched and rewatched her Thyroid talk when mine went temporarily wonky after a Paxlovid reaction. I felt comfort knowing that I could naturally try to rebalance. Which I successfully did through exercise, vitamins, and nutrition. 

She always has been the unsung hero and the coach in the background. I never reached out because I felt close to her from afar. Us blondes from the bay area need to stick together afterall.

Her book, Keeping Secrets, was instrumental in acknowledging some of my family members struggles with alcoholism. Lucky for me, my grandfather who was afflicted made a conscious choice each day for over fifty years to abstain from the effects of alcohol and alcohol related diseases! 

It also helped me to not necessarily label myself an enabler of which I am not, but rather to “enable me with knowledge” to do better, to be better and to grow in life.

Society can do a number on us especially those that haven’t had the smoothiest childhoods and Suzanne Mahoney aka (Mrs. Alan Hamel)  a woman from San Bruno, California showed me truly what “Blonde Ambition can and does look like.”

As a mother, teacher, entrepreneur, author, publisher, WRITER, cook, baker, people pleaser, kind person-- we all wear many hats. WOMAN! 

It is so great to know that eventhough her life was far from perfect, I doubt that she dwelled much on what didn’t work because she was so happy and having so much fun with what did work.

There is a saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I’d like to think of myself as an honory learner from the masterful teacher, Suzanne.

A true audiodiadact, Suzanne was more knowledgeable about women’s health than many people. She took the time to listen. I listened to some of her podcasts, and frequented her website, and on occasion would watch her answer questions via the telephone at her home in Palm Springs by Al’s Bar. (Her husband’s bar in their backyard I believe). He’d whip them up a drink or two and she would patiently answer callers questions. There was this one lady that had called before and Suzanne was more than happy to patiently listen and clearly answer her questions to the best of her ability and to ask for clarification. 

A true champion for women’s health and advocacy. Though many in the community tried to poo-poo her hundreds if not thousands of hours of research, communications with holistic health practioners, board-certified doctors, and recipes, health products, healing tips, sexual positivity, positive body image, feminitity, glamour, kindness.

I’ll change my feeling of devastation to gratefulness. I am so beyond grateful that a woman like Suzanne Somers graced us with her kindness, business acumen, entrepreneurial spirit, trail blazing attitude on this planet. 

We are all lucky to have learned from her, from afar or up close.

She made it okay to have those meaningful life conversations with those we love and to help us to accept and love ourselves and others. 

No one wants to live in misery and if you do, you might want company, but there’s no room for it when you are talking about Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel.

Looking forward to reading Two’s Company, and she’s left behind so many informative books--we will all be very busy admiring her compendium of work for years to come. 

There’s an expression about being the third wheel and in this circumstance I’m glad to be part of the Three’s Company and Two is not a crowd!