Jane Cowan

Eddie Kennedy strides across the grass, fall leaves crunching underfoot.
He treads the same path daily to Berea Arena Theater, preparing for opening night of his newest show, a parody called &#8220;We Got Talent&#8221; inspired by the TV show &#8220;America&#8217;s Got Talent.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s the best of the best, and the best of the other,&#8221; he says.
Though Eddie, 70, is supposed to take it easy after having a heart valve replaced five months ago, he fits more into each day than seems possible.
The retired teacher is the founder and director of the theater. He designed and built the auditorium himself. He directs performers, designs sets and scrubs toilets.
Eddie&#8217;s wife, Norma, runs the box office from their dining room table. &#8220;I&#8217;m the boss,&#8221; she laughs. Of the theater she admits, &#8220;It consumes us.&#8221;
The theater keeps Norma and Eddie in touch with young people. It&#8217;s almost 10 years since their only daughter, Sara, died three months after her 18th birthday of rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive childhood cancer.
&#8220;We were just shattered. You&#8217;re in a hole. You&#8217;ve lost your life,&#8221; Eddie says.
Sara&#8217;s likeness smiles from a photo Eddie wears pinned to his chest. He wears it like a uniform along with a shirt bearing the logo of the fund he runs in his daughter&#8217;s name. SaraCare raises money for the Kentucky Children&#8217;s Hospital and the Pediatric Oncology Clinic.
The fund has been therapeutic, Eddie says, because it gives him a reason to talk about Sara more than he would have, moving him through his grief.
Norma admits that at times the theater makes her miss her daughter more. &#8220;Especially during a show like &#8216;We Got Talent.&#8217; You do feel a bit cheated. You think, how much fun would it be if she was here?&#8221;

From the heart