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Leprechauns rock on with Eleonore

Rochelle and Dave Freiderich knew their baby was dying, and they wanted to hold her close and rock her for comfort for each other. No rocking chair was immediately available which added to their stressful situation.

Left to right: Roger and Bonnie Friedrich (Dave’s parents), Dave and Rochelle Friedrich and Rita and Bob Martin at the Clevland Clinic Main Campus dedication in April 2010.

They decided to help other parents going through the same heartbreak and to keep Eleonore’s memory alive by helping provide specially designed rocking chairs for hospitals where there were none available. It’s important to be able to hold that baby close and the comfort of a rocking chair helps. There are many hospitals where there is no rocking chair to help comfort in those last hours, so Rochelle and Dave pledged to help provide as many as possible.

“Saying goodbye to Eleonore that night was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. But, we will always be grateful for the time we had to rock her, hold her, smell her and sing to her. We swaddled her tight, told her how much we loved her and wanted to take her home with us, and kissed her good night. Eleonore Grace passed that evening.”

“While Eleonore was only with us for a short time, she left quite an impression and reminded us just how precious life is. Eleonore Grace rocked our lives in a way that words cannot fully express. We established this foundation to honor Eleonore’s memory and to support other families enduring similar heart aches. We only hope and pray to make her proud of our efforts to honor her memory.”

The Leprechauns heard the story from the Reese family who also lost an infant soon after birth. A Leprechaun Rocking chair has been ordered in memory of Rory Patrick Reese, April 1–4, 2014 which will be placed in the NICU of Fairview Hospital. Rory was the son of Brigid, a young Leprechaun mom who dressed up as one at parties that we had at area hospitals for sick children when she herself was very young. Another chair has been ordered for MetroHealth Medical Center.

Currently the foundation has donated hundreds of rocking chairs in 11 states. They have been working with Duke University and they are expecting a shipment of rocking chairs in the next few weeks which will put them in 12 states. Eleonore’s story and the history of the foundation can be found at www.eleonorerocks.org.