Sue Walden, who is remembered for her adventurous spirit and living life to the fullest, died last year after succumbing to malignant melanoma. She was 47.

Walden’s oldest daughter, Julia, has organized a remembrance to mark the one year anniversary of her mother’s death. The event will be held on Saturday, Dec. 16 in Depot Park.

“It’s a super hard and emotional time for me,” Julia said as a reason why she planned the gathering.

Linda Amaral, who lives in Hancock, said she plans on going to the remembrance. 

Amaral met Walden through her daughter, who met Walden’s daughter at a summer day camp. The two girls quickly became friends. When Amaral met Walden for the first time, “there was an instant connection.”  

“You know when you meet someone and you’re like, ‘I really want to spend more time with that person?’” Amaral said. “Well that’s how it was with Sue. And I think it was that way for anybody who met her.”

When the two met they were in a similar place in life – Amaral was going through a divorce and Walden was already divorced. Amaral said they became friends quickly in a way that doesn’t happen very often when you’re an adult. They went for walks together and went out a lot. A friend told them about a ‘80s dance club in Maine and the two would travel there, dress up in decade-themed garb, and let loose for the night.

Amaral said Walden was just like that, she had fun for the sake of having fun.

She said Walden eventually moved to New Jersey after Julia graduated from ConVal. Walden said she needed a fresh start and she chose her home state as the place to do that. A couple of weeks after Walden moved, she started having seizures as a result of tumors that were growing in her brain.

“It was almost like God brought her back to Jersey,” Amaral said.

Most of Walden’s family was there so she had a support system after the diagnosis. Walden received a new type of treatment at a hospital in Philadelphia and Amaral said she went down to see her for a week while she was there. Walden was staying at a long-term hotel during treatment and Amaral drove her to-and-from the hospital that week. Walden slept a lot that week, her body exhausted from the treatment.

When Walden was released from the hospital after she had completed treatment, Amaral said a group of friends from the Monadnock area went down. The group was there for Walden’s bell-ringing ceremony – a tradition at the hospital for everyone who has completed treatment. During the same trip, the group rented a condo on the ocean in Walden’s hometown and spent three days enjoying each others company.

Kristin Lundsted, who lives in Peterborough, was one of the women who went to the bell-ringing ceremony and to the getaway trip. Lundsted said she met Walden through her daughter, Julia, who was her youngest son’s first love in high school. Lundsted said she connected with Julia quickly, and when she met Walden it was obvious that they were going to be friends too.

On that ocean trip, Lundsted said Walden was very weak. The group pampered Walden those days on the beach – cooking her food, watching TV, painting her toenails, and massaging her feet. The condo had a deck that overlooked the ocean. Lundsted said one day Walden was sitting out there in her bathrobe and a pair of her friend’s stylish boots overlooking the water.

“That was Sue,” Lundsted said. “She wanted to wear those boots.”

Lundsted said the group drove Walden back to her mother’s house after the ocean trip. On that car ride, Lundsted knew it was the last time she was going to spend time with her friend.

“When we were all in the van I wanted to drive her away from everything that was happening,” Lunden said. “I wanted to take her somewhere safe.”

Amaral said she saw Walden about a week before she passed. Walden was in hospice care at that point. She said one of the days Walden asked for an assortment of unhealthy foods like chocolate, ice cream, and donuts.

“[Walden] was like you better eat some of this too or else,” Amaral said through tears.

It was one of the last memories she has of her friend.

Now those closest to Walden are maneuvering through life without her.

Amaral said she took several weeks off from work right after Walden died. She spent most of that time in bed crying. She said it took a long time for her to be able to say her friend’s name without getting choked up. Now, when she sees a rainbow she knows her friend is looking down on her.

Lundsted said she’s trying to honor Walden’s life by applying some of the things she admired most about her friend into her own life. Things like Walden’s ability to live in the moment and move through whatever was happening to her with strength and courage.

Julia said she’s spent the last year working through grief. She didn’t have a great relationship with her mother while she was a teenager – the sort of complexity many teenage girls have with their mothers. She said they worked on their relationship after her mother was diagnosed with brain cancer, although the tumors were affecting her mother’s brain at that point so she wasn’t the same person.

Even though her mother is physically gone, something that is hard to come to terms with, Julia said she’s still with her. And she is continuing to work on their relationship.

“She’s not the Sue Walden who had all these troubles,” Julia said. “… I think that’s dropped and allowed for a whole new relationship with her.”

Julia said this past year without her mother has changed her entirely.

“I have grown into a completely new person,” she said. “I’m not the same person I was. Not even remotely close.”

Amaral said before Walden’s diagnosis and death, Julia liked to hang out with friends and party. Julia has become “very inward” this year, she said.

People are scheduled to gather in remembrance of Walden at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The group will share memories about Walden and set off biodegradable lanterns. Afterward, everyone is invited to Harlow’s Pub.

“Everyone is encouraged to have a drink … or five,” Julia said.

That’s what her mother would have wanted.

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