When friends become family - a tribute from Jacques Linder
One evening after teaching, my spouse said “I want you to see this.” It was a resume of Susan Fisher Clickner. She was a voice teacher with a resume from Curtis Institute of Music and looking for a teaching job at Clark University. Amazing! Stuck in central Mass, no job, three children and her father. I was blown away!
This was in 1970 and yes we had a job at Clark. So she was hired, but more than that, she became a friend. One evening Wes (my spouse) and I were going to eat at a Japanese restaurant and we invited Sue who immediately accepted and thus our friendship started. The first thing we learned about Sue is that she loved to dress up and eat out. She always had lists of restaurants to try out in Boston and surrounding areas.
Thus began our tours of places to eat. We had such fun. Then the other thing was “Bop”, Sue’s father. After a dinner out we returned to Sue’s house and played cards, usually bridge. So we spent many nights playing in every season, all year long. We bonded so much.
Then came a turning point. Sue could not possibly raise three children on Clark’s salary so Wes went to New England Conservatory of Music and told them about Sue. She had become our family and needed help. So it worked that she was hired on the voice faculty and now had security for as long as she needed it.
Sue was an amazing person, full of life, a great sense of humor, loyal to the Nth degree. When she entered a room you knew someone important had arrived, she could not hide it. She told me she was very shy; maybe she felt this inside herself, but not visibly. Sue started out as a friend and ended up as family, thank God.
She is ever in my heart and I will miss her. - Jacques Linder