After a lifetime in and out of doctor’s appointments, 32-year-old Eileen Chang is finally feeling stable and energized. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for everybody around her, the St. Louis resident is now on a mission to experience all the priceless teenage moments she missed out on.
Chang’s lengthy summer bucket list includes ding-dong-ditching; sneaking onto a rooftop; and spending five hours at a Denny’s, ordering only french fries then paying with loose change.
“Sadly, one thing I can’t recreate is sneaking out of the house,” Chang said. “Now that I have my own place, that would just be called taking a walk. And I think getting a fake ID at this age is just fraud.”
Now Chang is fast-tracking experimenting with a goth phase, a party girl phase and a musical theater phase. Local community theater director Alan White said he was happy to welcome Chang to the team.
“Normally, we wouldn’t cast someone with absolutely no dance or singing experience, but when we heard Eileen’s story, we couldn’t say no,” White said. “Everyone here had an unforgettable high school theater phase — mostly in a traumatic, embarrassing way — and I’d never want to take that away from someone.”
In addition to building the requisite ankle strength for “Singin’ in the Rain,” Chang has been working with her physical therapist to gain the stamina to skateboard, play hacky sack and TP her ex’s house.
“Eileen has made truly remarkable progress,” said Dr. Gonzalez. “Within a year, I expect she could be ready for a keg stand.”