Monica Mary Eichstaedt
She was 7 months older than me. When we were little we did just about everything together. I wanted so badly to be better than her at everything because she was older and she let me know it every chance she got.
Most people think her life was a waste. But not me. She did something so important and she never lived to see it.
She taught my son FEAR which more than likely changed his entire life.
Mo did things most people wouldn’t dream of doing. There are other members of our family that we could say the same thing about. I used to think that Mo just made bad choices. When Cory was born I started to see things differently. Cory had no fear. He would walk up to anyone and talk to them. When he was just a kid around 2 years old he jumped in the deep end of a pool, he said it called to him. Those who knew him well called it Cory logic. No one else would think of things the way he does. I think Mo had the same thing.
The difference? She was the youngest of 9 who’s Dad passed away when she was 10 years old and would do whatever anyone told her to do. She was the most compliant person I will ever meet.
She met a guy who used that compliance to get her to do things. Things none of the rest of us would even think of doing. Drugs and alcohol became her life.
Cory on the other hand got to watch first hand, up close and personal the effects of that compliance. He was with me every day that I went to see her. He listened as I asked her if she realized what was going on, did she want something different from what we were doing. Her reply and she was still lucid and rational – no I know somethings wrong but I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll do whatever you guys want.
Cory asked me later that day if we all grew up together (Mo, Ann and I) how come my sister and I didn’t end up like Mo. I told him the only thing I could think of, and to this day still believe to be true. We had fear. I would no more stick a needle in my arm or have somebody else do it for me, as put a gun to my head. I was not a perfect person, I did things that were considered normal in the middle to late 70′s, there was no “Just say NO” campaign yet. But I did have that little voice inside my head that said every once in awhile – What the hell are you doing…STOP.
Cory said he didn’t have that voice, he had a voice that said, you should try this it could be fun. With that statement I turned to him and said..Do you see her, do you see what’s happening to her? Do you want this for yourself? This is not a life I want for you. He turned and looked at Mo and said, did you ever say no to the voice you heard saying everything was fun? She looked him right in the eye and said no why would I?
He promised me he would think about things before he did them. Ask himself if Mo would do whatever it was-but more importantly ask himself what would I or his Auntie Ann do.
That day, changed my son’s life forever. Mo’s life wasn’t a waste, it showed a 14-year-old boy that a little fear is a good thing. Noah thanks her.
