About Eileen

I was born in Philadelphia in 1948, the first of six children, all girls.  Baptized as an infant, I attended twelve years of Catholic school which qualify me as a “cradle Catholic.”  I attended a secular nursing school and thus began the lean years of my faith.  Like many young adults I stopped attending church except when forced by my parents. 

After graduating nursing school I moved back into my parents’ home and began working at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  Choosing to work there is really a God story in itself, since I had originally planned to work in the Labor and Delivery Room of a much closer hospital.  While working at St. Chris I met and subsequently married my husband.  He has been God’s messenger on several occasions in my life.

While we were married in the Catholic Church, my husband is not much of a church-goer.  When we were first married I would attend Mass sporadically, until one Sunday morning he looked at me and said, “Eileen, why don’t you start going to Mass on Sundays.  You are a much happier person when you do.”  The “lean years” of my faith were over.

We will be married forty-two years in December, and while he will say I don’t listen to him enough many times he gives my life the direction God wants me to follow.  We have one daughter and one grandson but they are a whole different story.

The US Air Force introduced us to the deep South and we have been living in  Florida, Mississippi and Alabama for most of our married lives.  I have stayed active in church all of those years.  In the last ten years I have become a parish nurse, helping with educating congregations on the link between spiritual health and physical health.  This has led me to desire a deeper understanding of my faith. I took several classes sponsored by the Archdiocese of Mobile and am currently working on a Masters in Theology at Spring Hill College, which is how I met Michele.