Last week Dave’s mother, Eileen, passed on after many years battling cancer. She was the toughest fighter I have met. She fought cancer for most of the years I knew her.
If I had to describe Eileen I would say she was Carol Brady spiked with vodka. She never remebered my name (not that I’m very rememberable) but that didn’t stop her from welcoming me into her home. They had a screened-in front porch on their house and I hated walking in without notice. But knocking on the screened porch door yielded very little results. One had to walk into the porch and knock on the house door. Many times Eileen would find me outside waiting for someone to notice me standing at the porch. “Com’on in, Hon! Don’t stand out there!” she would say. And I would thank her graciously by taking off my shoes before entering the house.
We used her basement to learn to play music. She tolerated many hours of poorly played guitars, screaming nonsense, and general foolery. And even through all of that she would come down and offer us snacks. “Do you boys want Twinkies? How about ice cream? What about Twinkies IN ice cream?” You couldn’t get by her without taking a snack.
Eileen was unique. I will always have a place in my heart for her. She made such an impression on me as a teenager. I will never forget her. Good-bye, Eileen.
