Suzi B.

Cuddle Woman

I met Suzi at the Reserve casino in Central City, CO. I would take my mom to play her slot machines every Tuesday afternoon. We would stay there for the better part of the day. Mom would go off and play the slots while I set up shop in the casino buffet area. It was the only place in the casino that had an easily-accessible electrical outlet. The upside was that I could work on my computer while mom pulled those handles.

Since mom and I went there on a Tuesday, there wasn’t an inordinate amount of players in the building. Thus, the buffet area was slow. And because the restaurant traffic was minimal, the wait staff (almost exclusively women) got to know me. And they learned that I was a “relationship doctor” and was developing a website about relationship information.

Most of these women were hired because of their beauty, and many had “man troubles.” I had disclosed to most of them that I was a “relationship doctor” and that prompted many of these women to tell me all about their relationship issues. However, I enjoyed these sessions. It provided me with tons of new data about how beautiful women think about their relationships. I helped many of them through their “troubles.”

Before too long, Suzi and I began talking more and more about her relationship “situation.” She had just endured a rather unpleasant divorce. I had just recently split with a girlfriend myself. So I was all ears. Suzi and I probably developed a bond over our breakup discussions. After awhile, she would sit for long periods of time at the booth where I worked on my computer. When we talked, the time seemed to fly by. She had an easy way about her and wasn’t full of drama like some of the other women who worked there.

One day while we were chatting, Suzi told me that she had a dream about me. A huge smile crept across my face upon hearing this. I think she could tell that I was attracted to her, but she could tell that I really didn’t know how to ask a woman out. After all, all of the women in my life had done the asking. She wrote her number on a napkin and I filed it away in my wallet.

Soon thereafter, I called her and we decided to go on a date in Ol’ Town Arvada; at El Tapatio. I learned that Suzi had a really cool Toyota truck and lived high in the mountains near St. Mary’s Glacier. I’d still see her whenever I took mom to play her slots, and I felt really comfortable around her. We were both oddballs and accepted each other’s eccentricities. After our first date, we made out in her truck and agreed that we could become “an item” in the near future. First, I had to meet her family. Then she would have to meet mine. Oh that would be interesting.

Suzi and I soon began to spend a lot of time together. We had similar interests, so it was fun and exciting to hang out with her. One thing I loved about her, she loved to go eat in out-of-the-way restaurants. Plus, she liked to go driving in the mountains. I learned that she had grown up in Evergreen, CO. So she wasn’t a city-slicker by any sense of the imagination. She would take us for drives over some of the mountain passes sort of near Denver. Also, we’d often visit her mom Becky who still lived near Evergreen, CO.

Suzi loved dogs. She was definitely a dog person. Her brother Jed had several pit bulls. He had a special pit bull named Lena (aka Lena Bug). This dog was so, so, so smart. I had come to believe in the stereotypes of pits being only mean and nasty. After all, I’d been a city slicker and whenever I saw a pit bull, they were owned by gangsters and thugs. Lena was far from this type. Lena could have done everything humans did, if only people would allow her to. She could travel and behave. She was easy to take on walks in the park and was superbly trained. I loved taking care of Lena. Whenever I would work at my desk at home, Lena would curl up in my easy chair next to my desk. I think she liked to be around me too.

Lena Claus

One time Suzi and I were coming home from her brother’s house in Idaho Springs. As we went to get on I-70 to speed back into the city, the traffic eastbound was bumper-to-bumper. So we headed towards the Echo Lake road through the winding mountain roads. That evening, we spotted a few dogs off the side of the road. But mainly they seemed to belong to someone nearby. But on highway 103 near Echo Mountain, we spotted a small dog running along the side of the highway. This was an area with a lot of Friday evening traffic, but was no where near any housing developments. So we looked at one another and we didn’t even need to say anything verbally. We pulled over and decided to capture that little dog.

Luckily we were near a pull out and thus, we were out of the traffic flow. We pulled as close to the little dog as possible. I jumped out even before the truck had come to a complete stop. I was chasing the little dog, intent on capturing him. But he dodged me and believe it or not, that dog ran to Suzi’s truck and jumped right into her lap! Ripley wouldn’t have believed it.

We drove back to Arvada and decided to look on the Internet to see if someone had posted anything about missing a lost dog in that area. But nothing was posted about him. We took him to the vet on Monday, explained how we acquired him, and asked if the staff would see if he had a chip embedded in him. We all got excited that he did indeed have a chip and thus we figured we could find the owners who were no doubt missing such a cute dog. But it turns out the owners had erased the information on the chip. There was no way to figure out who had lost him. For a few weeks, I continued to search the Internet to find out if anyone had posted anything about their lost dog, but to no avail. We decided to keep that little cutie. I still have him and he’s turned out to be such a good little dog. Suzi named him Little Guy; or Chico in Spanish.

Suzi and I had a good thing going for a couple of years. Then she began to get sick a lot. She tended to get kidney stones and a variety of other illnesses. Plus, she was a Type 1 diabetic and required daily injections of insulin. The year Covid hit, she got a really bad pneumonia and it hit her pretty hard. She recovered, but not entirely. Since she was also a diabetic, that pneumonia did a number on her. One day in May, she texted me to bring her some insulin to her at her place. One thing that stuck out that evening was that when I arrived at her place, she wanted to hold hands. Although we got along just fine, that wasn’t all that normal with us. I immediately took note and we laid on her bed and held hands (she had model hands)

That evening, Suzi was not doing so well. But after injecting her insulin, we both thought that she would shake off her spell of diabetic illness. After about an hour or more, I decided to drive back to Arvada before it got dark. I don’t drive very often and am not too skilled at driving on dark mountain roads. So right before sunset, I said goodbye to her and started the drive back home. Little did I know that would be the last time I’d ever see her.

The next morning I texted her to see how she was feeling and I never received a reply text to tell me one way or the other. I began to get concerned. At about 2 pm, her sister-in-law called me to tell me that they had found Suzi dead in her bed. I was dumbfounded! I could’t believe what I was hearing. My Suzi was gone forever. That news hit me hard. I couldn’t concentrate on things for awhile after hearing that terrible news. My best freind and girl was gone. Just like that. I still miss her immensely. I miss hanging out with her and going on our various adventures.

Today I am still in contact with her mom Becky. I drive to Evergreen every once-in-awhile to visit her. But with Covid, I can’t leave my sister alone for too long. But about once a month Becky comes to the big city and we go to lunch and catch up on “things.” I have to admit, I took Suzi for granted. I never envisioned the day I would lose her. I thought we’d have adventures for years to come. We’d been camping. We’d had VIP passes to rock concerts. We spent summers attending the Renaissance Festival with her close group of friends. We’d drive around Colorado in search of hot mineral springs (Suzi absolutely enjoyed soaking in her hot springs).

This short blurb about Suzi doesn’t get to the heart of the relationship I had with her, her friends and her family (or her dogs). I miss Suzi EVERY day. I miss seeing he truck pull up to my curb as we packed her truck with the gear for some sort of adventure. It even brings a tear to my eyes writing this section of this website. Suzi was authentic and genuine. She wasn’t pretentious or did she put on airs. She was down-to-earth and was beautiful in her own natural way. Plus, she cleaned up very nicely. I hit the jackpot when I met her. It will be difficult to replace her.