RMNAAFA Member Spotlight: Susan Luthye

One of Susan's personal passions is collecting items that remind her of her childhood. Be it 60's toys, games or comic books, Susan has her eyes out for them. A self proclaimed E bay addict, she surfs their website looking for those oldies but goodies. She enjoys collecting so much she thinks it would be wonderful to open her own collectable shop at some point. Until then the garage sales and E bay will have to suffice!

 For the past 15 years Susan has worked for the US Air Force, the past 4 years as budget officer. She is looking into possible employment changes, but her RMNAAFA buddies have warned her that she can't move away from us! Susan also serves on the Supervisory Committee of the Space Age Federal Credit Union. This mostly entails her acting as a liaison between members and management when a member experiences a problem with the credit union. Sometimes she is involved with cash counts and audits of accounting records.

Susan is a single mother of her son Evan, who is soon to be 15. She describes it as the most rewarding yet frustrating challenges in her life. Evan is a bright student attending Westminster High School and enjoys playing both baseball and football. Susan often juggles RMNAAFA events around Evans sports. My first hand account is that Evan is a respectful, considerate young man any parent would be proud of. I have enjoyed his company very much. She has done a fine job in the motherhood department!

 Susan moved to Colorado with her family when she was 9. She earned her degree at the University of Colorado at Denver in Political Science and Spanish. She also started her masters degree at Regis in 94-95 but decided to wait until her son goes to college before finishing it. A self proclaimed bleeding heart liberal, Susan supports a variety of causes, like gay rights, AIDS awareness and feminism.

 Susan was a member of RMNAAFA when it was around in the early 90's. She was glad the group re-formed and feels the newly formed group is much more active and has attracted more members then the last one. Being a single mother and having a job that she is required to travel with from time to time means Susan can't be as active as she would like when it comes to RMNAAFA. Just the same she has been an important member of our dance committee, lining up our DJ and working on publicity, as well as the all-important decorating! As stated before she helped get our first Water World outing going, has written for the newsletter and has helped with both garage sales. She has hopes of attending national NAAFA convention and hopes that someday Denver can be a site for a national convention.

 Susan is proud to be a member of RMNAAFA and relates her feelings about the group as follows: "We are a great group of people. We are all so diverse but we all share the same struggles in our lives and what we face everyday. I really do believe that every time we go out in public, we are making life a little easier for every fat person. Every time we ask for a table instead of a booth, or an armless chair, or seatbelt extenders on a plane, it helps every fat person because it makes people think. Every time we talk frankly and honestly with others about our situation instead of pretending that everything is fine or simply avoiding challenging situations, we help others." I couldn't have said it better. RMNAAFA is rich in the ways we can help ourselves, but we also help hundreds of other fat people we may never meet. Susan Luthye is the kind of member that helps strengthen RMNAAFA and makes it an institution that will continue to be of service to all fat people.
 
 

The Member Spotlight column is the work of Patti Kelly.

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