Yesterday morning I received word that my greatest mentor, Tom Eisner, had passed quietly in his home in Ithaca, just a week and a half before I emailed him to let him know that I was thinking of him. I was not his student, though I sat in his classes.
I was not a research assistant, though we talked entomology & research. In the summer months, he taught at NYU & I traveled to the city from Cornell to work on my environmental fashion projects. When we both had time off, we would meet under a large sycamore & share a spare lunch and substantive conversation. In so many ways he was closer to me than some of my closest family members. As my other friend has recently said, “We had a special connection that defies all orthodoxy.”
My professors at Cornell knew how close we were. And that’s how the news came…by way of their emails to me…
So this is a day of remembering: A day of remembering all those that are truly special in your life & a memorial to someone who was truly monumental in mine.
My LBD: Worn as an underbust ruffle dress; vintage silk chiffon shirt & vintage saddle bag (Ebay Green Team); Emilio Cavallini plaid anklets; Isabel Toledo for Payless ballet flats; Thea Grant re-created vintage jewelry; and special Cloven Hoof Hercules beetle cameo (dedicated to Tom’s For Love of Insects) Photos: Rory
And now I will take my trip back to Cornell today where I will walk past that long corridor to his office, in memory of him…
Song that soothes: Everyday by Carly Comando.