Once upon a Time

Eileen painted this watercolor sketch of her husband, Frederic Whitaker, on their visit to Ireland in the 1950s. “It was a chilly, windy day,” Eileen recalled. Fred wore his typical beret. Fred did a painting of Eileen in Ireland as well, also a small figure in a windblown meadow. This was a meaningful visit for Eileen: her mother was born in Ireland, County Kerry; her father in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and of Irish heritage. She grew up hearing stories of her Irish heritage. Her younger brother, Kevin, moved to Dublin, so Eileen was never far from hearing about “the old country.”