Eleanor Reinecke In Memoriam: My Eulogy: The Day I met Ele

It was Australia day 2003. I was new to Perth and had been partying with a couple mates from school. Being the young men that we were we decided that we would go over to another party where all the girls where at. Once we got there, everyone started to head down to Matilda bay for the fireworks on the foreshore. Not wanting to miss out on anything we decided to follow. On our walk down, I noticed this girl to my left dancing and singing away. There was something about her energy that really got my attention. Now if I’m really honest, it was probably the long tanned legs, tight mini dress and flowing blonde hair that caught my attention. But seriously there was this something about her presence, energy and no worries attitude that I liked. Anyway I built up the courage during the day and later went over to introduce myself. I don’t think she seemed too interested at the time, but I worked at it and finally got her number. That Girl was of coarse Ele. Anyway we dated for a while but it wasn’t till the night of her Ball that things kind of became official. Ele was dressed in this long blue dress and she looked AMAZING!!! Absolutely stunning! Just incredibly beautiful! I remember some of the other boys commenting that they couldn’t believe how “HOT” Ele looked. I wasn’t having any of this so that’s when I stepped in and told them, hang on guys, you know that is MY girlfriend we’re talking about.

Jet Skiing, Thailand 2010

So that was almost 8 years ago and since then Ele and I have done some amazing things together. Here in Perth, we would often head to the swan valley and taste an array of wines and cheeses, while trying to find a small hole in the wall winery and claim it as our own find. We sang and danced together at music festivals and sunbaked on the beach up at Yanchep. We partied with friends all the time and sang the club song together when we won the league at Shamrock. We dressed up for costume parties and cuddled on
the couch together on a cold winters night.

Canada 2007

Our further travels took us to some awesome and exotic places. We quad biked through the rice paddies of Bali, while we danced till 9am on the beaches in Thailand during the full moon. We celebrated new years in the streets of Amsterdam – Dutch style - and watched the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden in New York. We skied the rustic slopes of Poland and conquered Whistler Mountain on our snowboards. We overcame nerves by walking with lions in Zimbabwe While we gamewatched and safaried in South Africa. We cheered on Australia at the fifa world cup and cruised the Zambezi River at sunset. We fed the turtles in Tanzania and sat and drank wine on the bridges of the Seine in Paris. We lost our voices singing to the Chili Peppers and got soaked trying to get a glimpse of Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls 2010

Speaking of the Falls I have a great story about them, which tells us a lot about the type of person, Ele was, you know in the fact that she was adventurous, courageous and always willing to give anything a go. But before I start I just need you to know a few points quickly:

A 120-meter drop

Travelling 200km/hour

One rope and a single platform

This is what Ele experienced when she jumped off this platform at the Victoria Falls Gorge Swing in Zimbabwe. Pretty amazing feat on its own right? But what makes this story even more impressive is that Ele had a terrible fear of heights. I mean she was afraid of a 10 metre drop let alone 120 metres. However she was still determined enough and courageous enough, to step off that cliff and freefall all the way down. This still astonishes and inspires me today. Ele tackled life head first, and was willing to overcome her fear of heights by doing something like jumping off a cliff.

Fifa World Cup, Bloemfontein 2010

Now I’ve told you about some of our adventures that took us to the four corners of the world, but what I want to tell you is that our most favorite thing to do together was to simply crack open a bottle of wine, cook diner together in the kitchen while turning up the music full volume and dancing and singing together. It was the same thing I loved and the same thing Ele loved doing just like that very first day that I met her. She loved the saying: “Dance like there’s nobody watching…sing like there’s nobody listening” and she lived her life to this.

To My Ele. Wherever I go you will be in my Heart. I miss you now and forever. Omnia Vincit Amor.

Thank you,

We asked everyone today to bring a flower that reminded you of Ele. I would now like to invite you all to place those flowers with Ele.