Grandma Eileen and Cats

There is no way to describe how amazing this woman was.  As a typical American child, I never fully appreciated her while she was with us, but I sorely miss her since her passing.


There are so many items of knowledge that she gave me: 

• always sing if you feel like it
• animals will always need your love - they will never put themselves before you (meaning we should strive to be better people)
• always have a love of the Arts - if is better with the Theatre in it
• men will always look at your cleavage, so pad it if necessary or accent what you've got (my Pops was really not happy with this piece of information)
• you can't take money with you, so spend it and have fun
• your children are only with you for 18 years, so do your best, realize you're going to make mistakes and then be there for them when they leave so they will come home later

Because of these wonderful words of wisdom and some other crazy things, I am the woman that I am today.  While the family still disregards me, I love that my Aunt Mia (Eileen's youngest child) dedicated a bottle of red to my Grandma and it has a great picture of her on the bottle:

So, because of Grandma Eileen, I was more than thrilled at being able to go see Cats at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles.  Ken and I were going to be in the area that day, and my brother just happened to catch that Cats was back in LA.  I immediately got online to check out tickets, and Ken said to get them. 

Finding the words to describe my feelings is difficult.  Not only was I able to see the last play that I saw with Grandma Eileen, but I discovered that I was there on opening night.

I'm sure Grandma would have been disappointed that I was not dressed appropriately for going to the Theatre, but at least I made it there.

The musical was amazing.  I thought I had loved it when I was younger, but I can tell you that I never truly appreciated it when I was a child.  Now, I understand what is involved from a cognitive sense about singing while performing, the skill needed for the dancing, etc.

Ken and I loved that there were various celebrities in the Theatre with us such as Debbie Mansur, Doris Roberts, and JoAnne Worley.  Ken was not as star struck as I thought he would be, and he was definitely not impressed with the Red Carpet, but I thought it was great that all of these people and events were at his first professional event.

There were a couple parts that made me "emotional" as I remembered when I had been at this musical with Eileen.  I managed to hold back the crying, but I thought of and felt my Grandmother with me while there.  Awesome day and awesome memories.  

Thanks Grandma for inspiring my adulthood!