Stephen Martin Monahan

Grief can be so hard, but our special memories help us cope. Remembering you and your loved one today and always.

When I was little we had Uncle Steve´s 45´s in our stack of records in our little house in Plymouth MI, and since I was very into music, this was beyond cool to little me. He was a rock star; the cool uncle who had recorded albums!

As I grew older, I came to understand my uncle as an eccentric, free spirit, who liked to "fish for blues" on Mimi´s dock and photograph everything. He´d carry a camera around taking pictures constantly. Then came the camcorder, and the pictures turned to movies. I once had a conversation with him on the phone when I was a teen, that even today, have no idea what he was talking about. He spoke in riddles, or was it poetry, always up to the listeners interpretation. Poetry I think!

But my favorite memory was when Steve drove up grandma Mimi´s driveway in the 80s blaring music from his car one day. It was Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and not just from the radio. I ran up exclaiming "I love these guys", and he shows me he has the tape. Yes! My `rock and roll´ uncle shares my musical tastes in some small way. (We called it "new music" back then, early 80s). This was unusual to me; adults like my mother (Steve´s sister) and dad listened to mainly classical music, and talk radio. This exchange solidified his cool uncle image that afternoon. I got a BIG STEVE GRIN that day, so that´s the day I hang onto and remember the most. I didn´t know my uncle well but I do know he was musician, an artist, and deep and free thinker. What the earth has lost, the Eternal has now gained. Rest in peace Steve and more importantly fly high!