My friend Eileen Fowler died March 20th. We have known her for 25 years. We were living in Redlands, California at the time. We would spend so much time on the phone. She was a great telephone friend and church friend and just plain friend friend.
She was battling pancreatic cancer. She was on her third round of chemo after having surgery. She was in remission for a while and when I would talk to her she was always in a great mood and never sounded defeated. Dewey and I attended her funeral on Tuesday March 23. It was really nice. She lived in Oak Harbor, Washington. They have lived there since her husband Bill retired from the Air Force about 17 years ago.
There are many things I remember about Eileen. She was Spencer's seminary teacher his Senior year. She loved being a seminary teacher. She taught seminary for 10 years and was a Supervisor for another five years. We heard she was subbing early morning seminary even as she was undergoing her third round of chemo. That would be another thing I remembered about her. She wouldn't let anything stop her from her service to the Lord and others. She even told the Bishop she didn't want to be released from her callings until after she died. She was organized and a perfectionist. So much so that she was alert till the end and knew exactly how she wanted her funeral. She planned it all. She even had her entire family at home with her when she left this life. That is pretty organized I would say.
Back to Spencer and Eileen and the kids in her seminary class. The boys loved to paper her house. I believe they did it on a recurring basis. She was such a good sport about it. She would make sure it would be all cleaned up before her husband found out (he didn't appreciate that kind of attention).
I remember on one of my birthdays she invited Dewey and I to use their hot tub--by ourselves. She even served us cheese and crackers and sparkling cider. It will be a night we will always remember. A very nice birthday present from a friend.
I'll miss picking up the phone and calling her. We kept in touch over the years. Not as much as I should have.
I should never be too busy that I can't pick up a phone and call and say hi to a friend.
She was my friend.
