3 minute read
THE WONDERFUL, WACKY WORLD OF SUZY TORONTO
Amy Sweezey
SUZY TORONTO
Chances are, if you have perused a beachside shop or wandered through a Cracker Barrell gift shop, you’ve seen the artwork of Suzy Toronto. Her signature “Wonderful Wacky Women” designs decorate cards, calendars, stationery, and a variety of other collectibles. Her charming, colorful products, including more than 30 books, are sold throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Russia and Dubai.
“My hope is that my stories and illustrations make people laugh and encourage them to take themselves less seriously,” Toronto said. “I want people to believe that in spite of any hairpin turns on their particular roller coaster, they can live a life worth loving.”
Toronto was born in Hawaii to a mother who was an artist. Toronto knew in second grade she had inherited her mother’s (and grandfather’s) artistic talent when she won a school drawing contest.
“I remember looking around and thinking, ‘Oh, I am so going to win this!’” Toronto recalled.
Not only did Toronto’s mother encourage her daughter’s creativity, but she also taught Toronto a valuable life lesson.
“My mother taught me to believe in myself,” Toronto said. “She told me I could do anything, and overcome anything. and accomplish anything I wanted to.”
It was that belief that drove Toronto to self-publish her first book after being rejected by dozens of publishing companies.
“I knew I could help women who were struggling,” she said. “I knew I could inspire and console them. Knowing I could relate to them kept me moving forward no matter what anybody said to me. I believed in what I was doing.”
Toronto’s first 5,000 books sold in a matter of weeks, which is practically unheard of in the self-publishing world.
“I believed that this message needed to get out,” Toronto said.
The message materialized from Toronto’s own life experiences.
“I am surrounded by the most amazing women, and that’s a blessing I don’t take for granted,” she said. “I’ve watched them go through trials and triumphs and find the joy in everything. Girlfriend relationships are priceless, and having a network of a tribe around you is absolutely necessary.”
Toronto’s tribe was there when her step-daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a six-year journey, she passed away in January, 2020, at the age of 50.
“My daughter was fearless in every way, and she attacked cancer the same way,” Toronto said. “She never complained about the effects of the chemo or radiation or the drainage tubes hanging out everywhere. She always saw the joy. She died a survivor, a survivor of spirit.”
Several years ago, Toronto contracted Lyme Disease and had to persevere through debilitating pain.
“I have bad neuropathy in my hands and feet,” she explained. “There are some days I can’t even type or paint and other days when I can.”
Toronto thinks those limitations have made her a better person.
“When everything is wonderful and going right, you can’t grow,” she said. “We only grow through adversity and through being pushed to our limits, coming out the other end despite it.”
In 2019, Toronto pushed herself to her limits again when she entered a hula competition in Florida at the age of 61. She took the stage as the oldest contestant. When her husband asked why she wanted to do it, she said, “I want to show my children you are never too old to make your dreams come true.”
Competing was something she had always wanted to do.
“I looked down on the front row and saw my granddaughter doing the same motions I was doing on stage, and that’s when I knew I didn’t really need to win the contest,” Toronto said. “I had already won. My granddaughter saw her 61-yearold grandmother on the stage dancing the hula at a big competition.”
And even though she didn’t need to win, Toronto did. She took first place.
Memories made in the summer last for a lifetime.
AshleyWiley via Getty Images FOR MORE DAILY MEMES:
