When Eddy was born, the entire Eschner family changed forever. As his older sister I felt that it was my job to help my mom to take care of him, which believe me, was not such an easy task! From the very beginning he was not your normal child. His magnetic connection with animals and nature was evident almost immediately. Soon after his arrival, our family cat, (who at that point was much larger than Eddy was) took to sleeping with him in his crib. When Eddy was just a toddler we learned that he had to go to the hospital for an overnight stay. The afternoon before he was admitted, Eddy went outside and instantly caught a couple of bees to bring with him so that when a nurse gave him a shot, he could give her a shot too.
He also had a big desire to be on the move all the time. If Mom was holding him and not walking, he used to kick her as if he were riding a horse to get her to keep going.
Whenever we went to the market, Eddy would plead with Mom to stop at Ray's Pet Store - and so began the seemingly endless stream of pets who came to live with us. He brought home tiny water turtles that swam in the sink in our back porch, much larger alligator-like camine who took baths in the bathtub and ate live goldfish, gigantic green iguanas that got loose in the house and looked very dramatic on our red cement floors, as well as a huge variety of rats, hamsters, quail, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, snakes, chameleons and numerous reptiles with latin names I don't remember. For awhile we had so many unusual creatures living with us that classes from Golden Hill Elementary School would take field trips to our house instead of visiting the local zoo! Eddy was also very thoughtful, and one year worked diligently to save his allowance so that for Mother's Day he could give Mom the South American Rosy-haired Tarantula that he had been coveting. She was appropriately impressed! (And, yes, Mom is a saint!)
Eddy read books all the time - and he became an absolute font of knowledge about how to care for every living creature you could imagine. He used to read under the covers with his flashlight when he was supposed to be asleep, and in the morning would tell us these amazing facts about all kinds of creatures - from the lifespan of a lemur (18 years, the lowest of any primate) to the particular food a desert tortoise likes to eat (wildflowers, although hibiscus flowers will do in a pinch).
Eddy could communicate with animals and he was able to catch them everywhere he went. We used to go on family adventures every Sunday, and on one particular adventure we had been for a walk in Trabuco Canyon. Eddy was out hiking with our older brother, Gordy, and had caught a baby snake which he put it in the empty shoe box he had with him "just in case". The whole family was in our big green Buick stationwagon on the freeway on our way home when Eddy discovered that the lid to the shoe box had fallen off and the snake was missing! At that point Dad asked how he knew it wasn't a baby rattlesnake that hadn't yet developed rattles- and we all rode the rest of the way home with our feet not touching the floor of the car (except for poor Dad who was driving - rather distractedly)! We never did find that snake, but the green Buick smelled kind of weird for awhile.
On another occasion Eddy had been reading about burrowing owls and was incredibly interested in them. He rode his bike to one of his favorite pet stores, and on his way inside noticed something moving in the drainpipe right next to the pet store window. He got down on his knees to look - and sure enough, two big burrowing owl eyes peered back at him. Now came the dilemma of how to catch this timid creature. Everytime he put his hand inside the drainpipe, the owl would move out of reach. Being incredibly creative and resourceful, Eddy thought about it for a moment and then went into the pet store. He bought a baby mouse, tied a string around it's tail and set it free in front of the drain pipe. The mouse immediately ran inside the drainpipe and, as expected, the burrowing owl pounced on it. At that point Eddy pulled the string tied to the mouse's tail - and out came both the mouse and the burrowing owl. With one swift movement he caught his owl - and the mouse wasn't even hurt (albeit a bit frightened)! Eddy's idea of the perfect two-for-one deal!!!
When Eddy was eight or nine years old he decided he wanted a raccoon - really, really badly. Once more he started saving his money and calling every pet store in southern California asking if they had raccoons for sale. They universally said no they didn't, but Eddy left his phone number "just in case". Within weeks they started calling back with raccoons (I am apologizing to mother raccoons everywhere on Eddy's behalf!) and before we knew it we had a darling baby raccoon living with us! Eddy fed Rocky applesauce and baby food, Rocky slept with Eddy at night, and Rocky got bigger and bigger. Rocky would search Eddy's pockets for the sugar cubes that Eddy kept there for her, and grew to be a part of our family. This was a wonderful experience for all of us - until Rocky got older and hungry for things that Eddy couldn't provide. Rocky was soon joined by Beastie, who was captured in a midnight family camping adventure (clearly, Mom was not on that trip). There are tons of Rocky, Beastie and Eddy stories - but let it suffice to say that only two of us had visits to St. Jude's Emergency Room for stitches from raccoon bites before Rocky and Beastie were able to live their grown up lives somewhere else more suited for wild raccoons.
Eddy also had boundless energy! He was a Boy Scout - and his troop met one evening a week in a log cabin in Hillcrest Park. Never quite heard the whole story, but from what I gathered, the minute he was dropped off by an unsuspecting parent, Eddy and his friends ditched the meeting and spent the entire evening roaming through the park, playing hide and seek and chasing each other while watching for owls and bats. In high school he joined the cross-country team and
ran everywhere- and it was then that he took his first backpacking trip.
As we got older, big sisters were needed less and less. The animals were all still very much a part of our lives, but people friends began to take center stage. Eddy and I shared an intense interest in Native Americans - and I know that in some past life (that clearly carried over into this one) he was an amazing shaman. As time passed I became far less a big sister and he remained every bit as important to my life, but this time as a friend. I learned so many things from him -lessons and loves that I carry with me to this day. Eddy lives in each of us and with each of us forever.
Post Script to Childhood Memories:
Late one summer Evey and I drove Eddy and all his earthly belongings to his new apartment at San Diego State University. Mom and Dad were on one of their extraordinary trips - and it was left to the sisters to help him move. After driving for what felt like hours, we arrived at our destination. We got out of the car to check out Ed's new digs, only to be greeted by the yells of someone jumping into the pool that was located in the courtyard of the building. This ferocious sound followed by a loud splash happened repeatedly and we finally looked up to realize that this crazy guy was jumping into the pool - not from the diving board as we had imagined, but off the two-story roof! It was later that we came to realize that that guy was Joe Valdez - Eddy's future great friend and brother-in-law. They went on to have many happy adventures together - and I know I speak for my entire family when I say thanks to Joe for always taking such good care of Eddy, for bringing wonderful Wendy into our lives - and particularly for bailing Eddy out of the Mexican jail on that biking vacation you guys took!
This was taken on Ed's trip to Hilo, HI for the regional Geological Society of America Conference where he gave a presentation warning against the geologic stability of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository. June 1987
Eddy and Targa - taken on a trip to Death Valley. This particular picture is from early on so maybe 1984/85.
