RIP to my Great Aunt, Patricia Hardy Egan

Here's a link to my Aunt's Obituary.  Please take a moment to read it http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=patricia-m-egan&pid=153533132

When I was eleven, I had to do a report for school on who I wanted to be like when I grew up.  The answer was easy because my mom’s Aunt (my great Aunt) was Patricia Hardy Egan.   She was beautiful, had been a model, in movies and on TV.  She was everything I wanted to be.  What I didn’t know at the time (but spent the next 25 years learning) was what a beautiful person she was on the inside.

When I had my second child, I was so amazed because I remember when I was pregnant thinking to myself that there was no way I would love the second as much as the first.  Of course I would pretend like I did but knew that was clearly impossible…then sure enough after the second came, I realized I did love him somehow just as much as the first.  I considered that a miracle.  I learned that our “heart”, our ability to love is an amazing thing.   When I think of my Aunt, I think of a giant heart filled with so much love and it makes sense considering her heart grew with each five of her children and then with her fourteen grandchildren.

She was loved by so many people, some people who knew her, knew her as “Chatty” because my aunt had the great ability of telling you a story as if you were there, making you feel like you were in an inner circle, in the “know”.  You could sit and “Chat” with her for hours. 

One time, growing up, I was in trouble and my mom  sent me to my Aunts for a couple days.  I wasn’t sure what to expect because it was usually a place where I went to have fun.  I had never seen my aunt angry with me before and thought for sure I was in trouble.  I remember the day like it was yesterday. She said “Laurie Dori” which was her nickname for me and she told me to sit down and then for the next couple hours we talked, she told me stories, amazing stories about Hollywood and the Copa and my Uncle and talking to her, having her confide in me...I felt like I was privy to government secrets.  I was so intrigued by everything she had to tell me but most of all by her, by her energy and the way her eyes lit up when she spoke about my Uncle and just in awe of what an amazing person she was.  Years later, her eyes still lit up the same way whenever she spoke of her husband and she was always so excited to fill me in on what was happening with each of her children.  She loved to talk about her grand children. 

No matter what age she passed, would’ve been too soon for those of us who loved her.

When I think about who I want to be like now, as I grow older, I think of my Aunt and what a wonderful person she was, an amazing wife and strong mother.  But most of all how loving she was and how she was always showered with so much love from her children and grandchildren. And, that is exactly how I want to be.