On a recent hot Friday afternoon, I went with photographer Amy Boyle to visit 80-year-old Sue Smith in Lincoln Park, to hear her joyous words of wisdom I’d only read about. She greeted us in a summery orange shirt and matching handkerchief with shining jewelry, but an even brighter smile.
“The community that the project has built, whether in person [or on Facebook],a lot of these women have gotten to know each other.[It] has been wildly rewarding,” Boyle says.
Smith did exactly that and followed a new path to Chicago to start fresh after 57 years of marriage and a plentiful life in Fishers, Indiana. She says she was honored to be part of the project and share her story with the world, and the community of women has been a blessing as she adjusts to a new city. “It was such joy for me to find friends,” she says. “I am not from here and I came here [two days] after I lost my husband.”
