Susan Niebur ~ honoring her legacy at BlogHer ’12

There was a force in the social media world named Susan Niebur. (Many of you may have known her as @WhyMommy) Susan used her influential voice on and offline to educate, empower and inspire. On February 6, 2012 Susan passed away, but I’m not going to say she lost her battle with cancer. That phrase doesn’t sit right in my heart-gut, not when speaking of anyone who has died after living with cancer.  The word lost and Susan just don’t go together because her legacy, the way she fought to bring awareness to the world, will be kicking cancer’s ass until a cure is found. So I think I’ll change my first sentence to, “There is a force in the social media world named Susan Niebur”. That’s not just hyperbole, my friends. That’s the truth. This spitfire of a woman with a blog called Toddler Planet changed the planet and that’s why Maggie and I want to honor her at the Serenity Suite in New York at BlogHer this summer.

When Maggie and I did our first Serenity Suite at BlogHer 2010 in New York, we wanted to bring something to life that’s hard to explain. We learned a lot in those few days and we take it with us, to keep working to make the suite a place of solace, a respite from fun and exciting but sometimes anxiety-provoking social situations.

We’ve been beyond honored to have gotten so many emails and other words of encouragement from many people that found the suite to be just what we imagined–a place that helped them. But we’re still striving to always make it more–to keep the suite available for anyone to take a break and to sit in the quiet and to talk with friends old and new. We want this place to serve, and that means that when something comes to mind that will speak the suite’s message louder and louder, we’re going to do our best to make it happen.

I was thinking back on our suite in New York and I smiled at the thought of Susan Niebur taking breaks there. She even found her way to the bed in the next room (also a part of the Serenity Suite) a couple of times for a short nap. She got to stay with her friends this way, instead of going all the way back to her room, and still had the chance to gather up some energy and courage (she was a community keynote that year).

As so many of you know, Susan was (is) an absolutely brilliant and powerful voice in the blogging community and beyond. She was a small woman with a fantastically huge heart and soul–a scientist and mother and wife and friend. Her story has stretched hearts all over the place, so Maggie and I want to highlight Susan’s legacy:

If you’re attending BlogHer this year, please come by the Serenity Suite (we’ll be announcing the room number as BlogHer approaches) to share a memory of Susan, or something you loved about her. (Don’t worry, if you didn’t know her, you can certainly share something about someone you have known who has walked the cancer road.  We’ve all been touched by this disease and honoring someone in your life will certainly honor Susan as well.) We will provide note cards and after the conference is over, we’ll send these messages of hope and love to Susan’s husband, Curt, and their two boys.