For many of us, it’s all too common to look back at what was, not look toward the horizon. This is particularly so when it comes to things we believe we should have done.
It can feel like the moment to do it has passed. That the window has closed. That it’s too late. That we need to file it all under “missed opportunities” and move on.
Sue Miller Grandi would disagree — and she continues to demonstrate that it’s never, ever too late.
How did Sue Miller Grandi become Ms. Texas Senior America at 88?
Grandi, winner of the 2024 Ms. Texas Senior America pageant, is keeping busy at the age of 89—and when we say, “keep busy,” we really mean it.
Her latest accomplishment? She’s recorded an album, Music Matters.
The featured selections span from an aria by Puccini to medleys from such musicals as Phantom of the Opera and The Sound of Music.
It’s the culmination not only of a life spent singing but also of formal opera training she started when she was 80.
What motivated her to start opera training at age 80?
“I’ve always sung a lot, but I wanted to sing legitimately,” said Grandi, who lives in Mesquite.
“I love challenges … and I think that we are put here on this earth to make a better path for people.”
She took on that formal training at Dallas College Brookhaven—less than a decade ago, when most people her age would be settling into retirement routines.
“I wanted to sing better,” she said. “You know, I believe that whatever in life we’re set about to do, it’s our job, it’s our challenge. It’s our responsibility to become the very best at it that you can — and better than anyone else, if that’s possible.”
That challenge included learning to sing in another language. “That was difficult…but it’s such a sense of accomplishment,” Grandi said.
And she’s still on campus every week, said daughter Merry Miller, when she’s not juggling other projects.
What else has this dynamo accomplished?
“She’s got eight kids’ books in a series, a TV show in production, and a blanket company,” Miller said.
Before all of that, Grandi raised Miller and four other children. At the age of 42, when her youngest went to school, she made a bold decision.
“When the last one went to school, I thought, ‘Well, now’s the time to get my education.’ So, I jumped into college and got a bachelor’s and…got a job teaching.”
She went on to build a four-decade career in education focused on helping children learn to read. She also earned her master’s degree.
How did loss inspire a creative renaissance?
To Grandi, challenges are simply things to conquer, and perhaps her biggest challenge came just a few years ago.
“We went through a really dark time,” said her daughter. “We lost my dad, my nephew, my sister, and we were going through the COVID shutdown. So, it was like: ‘OK, you know what? Let’s just start doing everything that we ever wanted to do.’“
That’s when they began publishing the children’s books Grandi had written while she was an educator. The series is titled Eddie’s Amazing Adventures.
They also started an online blanket business, Sisters Sewing Kindness, which sells a variety of designs and donates to hospitals, veterans, and shelters.
How was the opera album recorded?
As Merry Miller worked on her 21st album, the professional harpist realized something: she had watched her mother perform so many times, and “We don’t have a professional recording of her,” she said.
So, Miller, who is also a certified audio engineer, went searching for the right studio. She found it in Palmer, Texas, at Palmyra Studios, which features historic equipment.
“I have a certification in audio engineering, so I know equipment,” Miller said. “When [Grandi] recorded this on the original console from Abbey Road, and she got that Shure 57 that Aretha Franklin used from New York, it changed the dynamic of the whole album.
“And her voice is so pure from the opera that… we didn’t have to mix it. We didn’t have to touch it. We didn’t have to go back and fix it.”
The equipment that captured history wasn’t just about sound quality—it was about legacy. Using the same console that recorded Beatles albums and a microphone once used by Aretha Franklin, Grandi’s voice was preserved alongside musical legends.
Miller even accompanied her mother on two songs— and admits it was the hardest gig she’s ever done.
“I’m not joking. I don’t get nervous with any Grammy-winning artists that I work with… but when I accompany her, I take it so seriously.”
Because Miller is one proud daughter.
“I’m just so honored to see where she is now, to see somebody overcome what they’ve overcome and then to hear her voice—to hear somebody that took a talent they had and perfected it to the level that she has.”
What has loss taught Sue Miller Grandi?
Grandi has done all this, and more, despite devastating heartbreak.
She said loss has taught her “to love generously, to make sure that all the people that surround me know how dear they are to me.”
It’s also taught her that time is all we truly have—and that we shouldn’t give up on the things we still want to do.
“Don’t just give up and sit there and say, ‘Oh dear, life has gone by,'” Grandi said.
“No, no, no. It’s not gone ’til you breathe that last breath.”
