Eddie, a memorial

I've been meaning to make a small memorial to Eddie Gabriel. So I found the picture of Brian and I with Eddie the last time we were in New Orleans together. This was in 2004. We loved Pat O'Brien's and we loved seeing Eddie play there. When Katrina hit, Brian and I wondered what happened to him. We later found out that this good man was lost in the flood of Katrina.
Below is something written from those that worked with Eddie. They had a memorial in New Orleans this past week in his honor. I recently saw Eddie in May 2005 when my friends and I went to New Orleans for my bacholerette party. Eddie died at the age of 95. And I saw him still looking so young just a few months before he died. My husband and I love New Orleans and have been there often. We will return there too, soon!

Eldridge Gabriel was born March 23, 1910. He began his career at Pat O'Brien's Bar in New Orleans in 1938, just five years after the bar opened. Strangely, he just walked in and started waiting on tables. No one had officially hired him, but they knew he was special. Shortly, he was up on stage tapping his aluminum tray with coins on top to the beat of the piano players. That was the beginning of his long 67 year musical career in the Piano Lounge at Pat O'Brien's, where people flocked to hear him play. He used a tray with coins, thimbles and magical fingers to bring joy to millions of people. He loved to hear the infamous "EDDIE, EDDIE, EDDIE" chant from the audience and truly loved what he did. He never missed a day of work.
"He was rooted and grounded and could not be moved, not even by Hurricane Katrina" a family member said. Sadly, he fell victim to flood waters, but his memory will live on forever in those who knew him and those who have seen him on stage.