Eileen J. Gleason (1927-2012)

Without much ceremony or notice, my Mom, Eileen Dorothy Janowski Gleason, passed away September 17, 2012. She had been in an advance-stage Alzheimer’s care facility since St. Patrick’s Day, 2009.

I learned much from my Mom, both from her positive example and from her flaws. But when my dad abandoned our family when I was 10, we became a team. We gave strength to each other. We could disagree, and still have each other’s back. She was the proud mom, and I was the loyal son. That will never change.

Without my Mom, I would never have made it to college. She was tireless in her pursuit to find a way to finance my education, and I would come home form a full day of high school classes and lacrosse practice, and she would lay out paperwork on the table, telling me, sign this, and you need to write an essay for this scholarship. I got to college, thanks to my mom. As a 5-year-old, I would cut kindergarten class and walk home simply because Mrs. Van wouldn’t let me read the nap-time story to the rest of the class. I was 5, I could read, and that was a personal affront. I was scolded, and instructed on the dangers of crossing Culver Road without an adult, and sent to my room. A few hours later, I was liberated, and we would play Scrabble. Yeah, a 5-year-old school-skipping truant holding his own in a game of Scrabble with an adult.

I was often ill with asthma as a kid. Rarely did Mom ever stop me from playing or curtail my behavior. And when I came home at the end of a 10-hour baseball marathon, wheezing and covered with cinder track dust from our makeshift field of dreams, I was rarely scolded. Diligently, Mom would stay up with me, rubbing my back, and providing comfort and administering my theophyllin until my breathing returned to normal. On the occasions when it didn’t she would find a way to get me to the emergency room, and stay with me throughout the night, until I was either released or admitted. I never received such attention from my father, because, for the most part, he was never there.

When I reached the age of 10, my parents’ marriage had disintegrated, and sadly, my Mom gave up. On everything, except for me. After a few years of frozen dinners, I learned to cook for myself, and to this day, maintain a fairly high degree of prowess in the kitchen. I’ve forgiven my Mom for many things, but I guess I never was able to forgive her for giving up. In this wide world, there have been few women as wise, as intuitive or as witty as my Mom.

And perhaps that was part of life’s lesson for me. Be wise. Be intuitive. Be witty. But don’t ever give up. I pray that God’s peace is finally with her, along with a part of my heart that can never be diminished.

Me with my Mom, May 2011

Eileen Janowski Gleason, professional model and loving Mom

Perhaps my favorite of all the photos of my mom.