House mom will be missed

In May, IU will lose another of its legends. While her exit probably won't spark riots or a campus full of news vans, it will nonetheless leave a hole in the hearts of many. Fran Gallienne, housemother to Alpha Chi Omega for the last 11 years, has decided to retire. \nFran has touched many in the greek community during her time at IU, myself included. With her boundless enthusiasm, eternal youth and unending grace, Fran has taught me, and many of the other women at Alpha Chi, that age is much more than a number and that some 75 year olds still look hip in hoop earrings and jean jackets. She has taught us our youth will only die when we give up on it, and that is tragic. \nI can vividly remember my first encounter with Fran. I was a freshman nervously going through recruitment, hoping to find a place where I felt comfortable. It must have been during Six Party when Fran came up to me, smiling, calling me by name and welcoming me back to the house. I didn't know how she knew me, but she helped me to relax and eventually she became part of the reason I decided to join Alpha Chi. \nNow, four years later, we still joke that she was really the one who rushed me into the house. There is truth behind the laughter, though; I knew that a place that housed such a special woman might also be a good home for me. \nFran does so much to make Alpha Chi a home for the hundred-plus girls who live there. We are all her surrogate granddaughters, and she treats us as such. But she is quite different from the typical grandma. Fran doesn't sit home and bemoan our partying nights or newest boyfriends. She revels in our enthusiasm for our lives, despite our sometimes wayward ways.\nLike a much toned down version of Miss Havisham, Fran is a glorious eccentric with her perfectly groomed silver hair, blue eyes and large wardrobe. To me, she will forever be posed on her big green chair in her apartment, waiting for someone who needs her. \nShe tempts girls into her sitting room with the ever-present candy dishes and then goes into a monologue about the benefits of Bag Balm (a thick lotion that Fran swears does wonders for her skin, although it was originally developed for cow udders!) and the latest deals she's found at T.J. Maxx. Next, she'll make up stories about her imaginary Mr. D's boyfriend, whom she claims to meet every morning in the store's banana section. She does it all to make us smile, and through the laughter she creates, she sets the tone for the girls who live between her walls. \nWhen she announced her retirement a few weeks ago, many tears were shed, the majority from those of us who have loved her for the last four years, but also from juniors, sophomores and even freshmen who have known her for only a few months. We all know the truth: Nothing will be the same without her. \nI am sorry that the future members of Alpha Chi Omega and other greeks on campus won't get to share in Fran's wisdom. They won't hear her sing-songy voice announcing that it's "snacky-doody" time during finals week. They won't get to ring their silver bells with her after she finishes reading "The Polar Express" before Christmas. She won't be with them on sunny afternoons at Oliver Winery; she won't take out splinters or wipe away tears. \nBut regardless of the fact that Fran won't and couldn't stay around forever, she has taught hundreds of IU undergraduates life lessons. We, who often assumed that only our peers could relate to our problems, our joys and our lives, have been proven wrong. \nMost likely, Fran is not the norm (not many senior citizens can give fashion advice to 20 year olds), yet she has taught us that our young spirits will only fade when we let them, that the madness of our college years does not have to be the peak of our existence. \nFran has given me hope and a reason to look forward to growing older. Her beauty, her wisdom and her intrinsic "coolness" has not paled. Nor will the mark that she has left on Alpha Chi Omega.\nFranny, thank you for the love, the laughter and the many life lessons you have given those of us who have had the privilege to know you. You will never be replaced and will forever be loved.