Susan Niebur passed away on February 6, 2012 after a lifetime of love, crusades, and strength. Over the last five years she lived with inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer that presents without a lump. She chronicled her life with cancer here on her blog Toddler Planet with honesty and emotion that were even more rare and aggressive.
She is survived by her family, friends, achievements, and the indelible marks she made on people around the world. In lieu of flowers, please consider furthering Susan’s legacy through a contribution to the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Or please choose to make a difference somewhere, anywhere, to anyone.
I can’t begin to describe how her friends, those physically nearby and those she knew only on the internet, enabled her to carry on through five years of treatment and recurrence. Many of you have commented on Susan’s strength and grace, but these were traits that she pulled from all of you.
I know that our fellow parent in Silver Spring, Susan Niebur, is in so many of our hearts right now.
She is all I can think about, making fluffy fun posts suggesting children’s activities almost impossible at the moment. The suggestions I have for you are to
Take your kids to a planetarium or other space/sky-themed field trip in honor of Susan’s life work as a planetary scientist. (That post I am linking to there is woefully old, written in April 2010, but I hope it provides some good links to spark an updated online search.)
If you would like to send a card of love or encouragement to Susan, the family has opened a post office box expressly to receive those kind expressions. That P.O. box is
Susan and Curt Niebur
11006 Veirs Mill Rd, Ste. L-15 #112
Wheaton, MD 20902
As many of you know, the incredible Susan of Toddler Planet, also a parent in Silver Spring, is fighting cancer again, for the fourth time in four years. She has fought the disease with two rounds of chemo, radiation, surgeries, medications and has begun a clinical trial. Susan’s side effects have been many.
And the cancer is still there.
Susan’s and my friend, and fellow parent and church member, Colleen of Wrecklamation, had the wonderful idea to begin a Novena, a nine day communal campaign of prayer. We will begin tonight praying at 8pm-9pm in Our Lady’s Chapel beneath the main church of St. John the Evangelist Church in Silver Spring. And we will be praying there together every night at the same time for the next nine nights.
The link to the novena prayers and readings, suitable for printing at home, is here and below the text of this post. The novena is adapted from one Colleen found on the web which was written by a priest at Texas A&M.
You are invited to follow along at home if you are not able to physically come to the chapel. In fact, Susan’s friends around the world and the world wide web will be praying together too. Please add your intentions and spiritual voice to this group calling for Susan’s cure of cancer and her pain.
You do not need to be Catholic to participate, either in person or at home. A belief in God and a love for the life of a wife and mother of two boys, age 6 and 4, is truly all that is required. You may also pray in a format that is more comfortable to you and your own faith.
Please leave a comment here if you will add your prayers, and please share this link with others so they may pray too.
