As we go through this life, if we’re lucky, we learn very quickly who are the people we can count on. The people that will stick by you through thick and thin, through the highs and the lows. In boxing terms, someone who will always be in your corner.
I was one of the lucky ones, because as long as I can remember, I always had Aunt Eileen in my corner. And I’m not breaking any news here folks, but you would have much rather had her on your side than going against you. Believe me.
She was tough but compassionate. She was the real deal, the genuine article.
An original.
Several years ago, I was up in the Bronx on a work assignment. I walked over to 167th and Grant Avenue, just blocks away from Yankee Stadium. I walked past St. Angela’s grammar school where both Mom and Aunt Eileen attended. Walking quickly (it was the South Bronx) past the school, I thought of some of the stories she told me. It wasn’t always easy, nothing was easy for her.
But she persevered. Not only with determination but with humor. She could laugh almost anything off. That never ceased to amaze me. No matter what life threw at her, and life threw her a lot, she came through it. Resilience, look it up in the dictionary and you might see her picture there.
On April 14, 2000 she was in a bad accident and we thought we might have lost her, but in typical Aunt Eileen fashion she bounced back. Fought through surgeries and a brutal rehab, to get back on how she would call them her “hind legs”.
Eammon, you came into her life at a difficult time, I’ve always felt bad that you didn’t meet Raffy and Nana, but grateful that you came when you did. To heal her loneliness after they passed, to be her partner in life, and to take Tiernach and I to the movies.
When I heard the news that Aunt Eileen was pregnant, I cried. They were mostly tests of joy, I was so happy for her. But I also think part of me was worried that I wasn’t going to be her main man anymore.
That never happened. Even after Mairead and Deirdre were born, and all the love she had for you guys, she still loved myself, Krissy and Katie with all her heart. It was a big heart and there was room for all five of us.
And what I will always be grateful for is that she got to experience the unparalleled joy of being a grandma. Seeing how her face lit up when Aidan and Saoirse were with her just did our hearts good.
So now I say goodbye to you. Thank you for being my Godmother, thank you for all you did for me.
Thank you for always being in my corner. I love you.
Aunt Eileen with me and Krissy late 1976
Thank you.
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