HI, I’M EILEEN!

I could never have imagined my life as it is today – with the possibility of joy and pain coexisting. After losing my husband in a plane crash at 41, I became a single mother of three, figuring out how to guide my children through their grief while navigating my own. The life I had envisioned disappeared overnight, and what has happened since is beyond anything I thought possible.

We don’t always have control over what happens to us, but I believe we do get to write the story we tell about it. With the intention of helping others tap their own inner strength, I wrote my memoir, A Time to Fly.

Today, I share my experiences with others as an author, speaker, volunteer, board member and… as the soccer-mom spiritualist sitting next to you in the stands. We are in this together.

QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

"Most of the time, life does not feel like a fairy tale. We allow the extraordinary to become ordinary to the extent that some days it is impossible to recognize what we do have."

"After someone dies suddenly, in an attempt to hold onto and maintain the live connection you shared, that back and forth force that sustained you both, you do look back—you pour back over every detail, clue, hint, message, silence, act."

"Sometimes back then, I would marvel at how most of the time most of us go about our business drifting completely detached from the preciousness of life."

"Is it okay that I’m okay, Dad? I don’t think I should feel okay right now. Maybe I’m in denial?”—“Eileen, there are no shoulds. There is no ‘right’ way to grieve. When you’re sad, be sad. When you’re okay, be okay. Don’t try being something you’re not."

This is grief, and I am at peace with it. These moments are reminders not of what I’ve lost, but of what I have deeply loved.

"Call me woowoo, that’s fine—I am semi-woowoo—but my deceased loved ones have my back. They play jokes on me. There have been dreams and daydreamy visits, there have been ridiculous coincidences—signs."

We move forward, but grief moves through time and space in surreal ways.

"We move forward, but grief moves through time and space in surreal ways."

BLOG

Lessons From My Children

My life wouldn’t be what it is without my children, Melanie, Brooke, Max, and Zack. Although I’m not the perfect parent, I work hard and try to provide a safe, loving, and stable environment for my kids to learn and grow in. It’s often said that the parent is a child’s first teacher, coach, and…

Death by Design: Podcast Appearance

Visit Death by Design for more!

Dave, The Caregiver’s Caregiver: Podcast Appearance

Visit Caregiver Dave for more!

The You-est You with Julie Reisler: Podcast Appearance

Visit The You-est You for more!

Love Talk Live with Jamie Bronstein: Podcast Appearance

Visit Love Talk Live for more!

Gratitude: The Buzz and the Resistance

The cards I’ve been dealt are overwhelmingly good ones, and I do my best to share the gifts I’ve worked for and the ones that have been bestowed upon me. I understand the value of focusing on one tiny good thing—the designs a barista puts in the foam of my quadruple latte—when I’m feeling overwhelmed….

Remembering Kobe and Brian: Men who Made Larger-than-Life Impact

As the country begins to process the shock of the sudden death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter Gigi, and the other families who lost their precious loved ones, many of us, even Kobe’s biggest fans, are struck by just how extensive an impact he had. We are learning a new element of his…

Reemerging on Social Media

I’m coming out of ‘lurker’ mode! It’s true, I confess, there’s no getting around it: I will soon have a memoir to promote—and so here I am, writing blog posts for the first time ever (late bloomer!), setting up new social media accounts (#studentofhastags101!), and returning to Facebook (after a long hiatus in lurker mode)….

Full Circle with a Song

A decade ago, when Kris Allen was singing his heart out to an audience of millions on American Idol, Season Eight, I was married to Brian. In our mid-thirties, we had three kids under the age of six and absolutely no time to watch television. We were never big fans of TV; we never had…

12/22/11

And then everything changed… “12/22/11” is the title of a school lyrical essay my daughter Brooke wrote on December 1, 2017, six years after Brian’s—her daddy’s—death. The assignment was to illustrate how appearances are not always what they seem—a perfectly valid and useful exploration in a 21st century middle school English class. What dwells beneath…

Turning the Energy of Pain into Purpose

Mike and I attended the Toronto International Film Festival last month to honor Aditi and Niren Chaudhary, the real-life couple the movie The Sky is Pink is based on. We knew what they had been through and how they were working to honor their daughter’s legacy, and we wanted to support them. The Chaudharys’ first…

Feeling Green – but AWESOME – About the Green Scene

When it comes to carrying Brian’s legacy for the environment forward, at times I’ve been going at it like gangbusters, at times I’ve quietly worked in the background, and at times I’d say I haven’t been active at all. From the start of 2018 to now, I’ve been working on my memoir and proceeds from…

The Adoption Puzzle

The stack of legal papers for adoption is thick: so thick that even though my husband and I have been talking about and planning for this huge step in fitting our family together for years, I have somehow forgotten to cross all t’s and dot all i’s. We were supposed to celebrate before the school…

A Celebration of You with Holly Dowling: Podcast Appearance

Visit A Celebration of You for more!

Home