Erin Brooks O'Rourke

She loved music, often traveling the neighborhood where we grew up with her Walkman on full volume, singing at the top of her lungs, which helped our mom track her down in the days before GPS and cellphones. She loved to laugh and to joke and had impeccable comedic timing. Her “microchips” routine and her free form scatological word association could break the saddest man into a smile.

She loved traveling with her family on vacations, especially if a beach was involved. She could lose herself in the waves for hours. She was also a gifted athlete, playing tennis for El Paso High from which she would graduate in 1999. She and her family were proud of the many medals she won in Special Olympics competitions in El Paso and New Mexico.

She was a champion of the bullied, having endured so much of it growing up as a special needs child. This gave her more than her share of challenges, but it never closed her heart to others. It instead contributed to her extraordinary powers of empathy and compassion. She never met a stranger, nor would she look up to, or down on, anyone. An underdog through and through, she recognized no station or title or hierarchy. If you were good to people, that was good enough for her.

In addition to the lives she changed, the smiles, laughs and hugs she bestowed on almost everyone she met, the poetry she left us will be her enduring legacy. The way she could describe the world, her feelings, and most importantly, the love that is all around us, is something we will always cherish. Her poetry often combined the poignant, the absurd and the profound as in this one she addressed to our mom:

Mom, you are the sun of the earth.

And you are like the wind of the fire running through a hole.

And like a rose on an evening night.

And like a horse in a stable eating his hay.

And like a star shooting through the sky.

And like lightning shooting through the wire.

And through the sky.

And through the river

And through the woods to grandma’s house we go

To eat each others chickens.

And like a balloon flying through the air.

And like a fuzzy bear cleaning his teeth.

And a little bird chirping through the air.

Indeed, her mom was her world. And it was to her that Erin dedicated countless letters, poems and drawings. They shared a bond of devotion, of caregiving and of love, something Erin knew would never die:

Happy Mothers Day, Mom.

You are like birds singing in the morning sun.

You are an angel to me.

You are a bright shining star.

You are a person with a loving heart.

You are the wings of my love.

You and I will share love to one another

And I will cherish and love you all the time.

Until we love again and I will always be a part of you.

Erin is preceded in death by her dad, Pat. She is survived by her mom, Melissa, her sister Charlotte and her brother Beto, as well as her nephews and niece, Patrick and Maximo Pearson, and Ulysses, Molly and Henry O’Rourke. She loved her uncle Brooks, her tia Patricia and her cousin Bonnie.

We want to thank everyone who was kind and loving to Erin, and those who took care of her along the way, especially in her final years at CARC, Inc. in Carlsbad, New Mexico and in her final days at Carlsbad Medical Center, University Medical Center of El Paso and Hospice of El Paso.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to CARC at the following link: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1407587

Erin’s funeral will be held this Thursday December 29th.

Visitation will be from 9am to 11am at Martin Funeral home on Resler. Her funeral mass will be given at noon at Queen of Peace and burial will follow the mass around 1:30pm at Memory Gardens of the Valley in Santa Teresa. Reception to follow at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing.

You will always be the wings of our love Bear!

Pallbearers

Patrick Pearson

Maximo Pearson

Ulysses O’Rourke

Molly O’Rourke

Henry O’Rourke

Brooks Williams

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MartinFuneralHomeWest.com for the O'Rourke family.