Dear Hearts,
It’s Patty’s birthday. And we all agree nobody should be in charge of writing their own birthday Dear Hearts. And Patty’s too humble to write about the incredible reality of her goodness. So I’m doing it with the help of my great siblings and a few other loved ones (husband, sons, niece, brother-in-law, nephew, grandnephews, friend) thrown in. So this is a compilation from many.
These are things that popped into the minds of Patty’s loved ones when I asked, “what can you tell me about Patty/Mom/Aunt Patty?
Patty, grab some tissues and buckle up. May you have the happiest of birthdays in this surreal time in all of our lives. (I’m going from oldest to youngest here, with a twist at the end.)
Jim - Patty, you are my precious baby sister, and also, I appreciate sincerely the strength, validity and accuracy of most of your pronouncements. You are right on the money. You, with our sisters, were the guardian angel for mom during her difficult last years, and carried the ball for us all, with the help of our California sibs. But you led the march. You, you're good, you.
Patty is one of those rare women who really and truly understands the zen of baseball, and loves it as much as her brothers love it, but not as much as they love her.
John - I think I remember Patty’s arrival more clearly than any other. She had me at waaaaah. (it didn’t occur to me that someday she would rove the black market for 3.5 gallon toilets.)
Once, when she was less than two months old, I caught Patty on the fly as mom fainted during a middle-of-the-night feeding exercise. when mom came to, she smiled at patty, asked how loud the crash was, laughed at my clinical observation that it rattled the china cabinet, and got right back to business. patty was an angel throughout. And has been ever since.
Mike - patty is one of my valuable resources for baseball and all things related to BMs – technique, texture, color analysis and hygiene. you are also, and have always been, an inspiration for me to try and do better. I love you, pitty pat. Happy birthday.
Matt - she’s an organizational genious – simultaneously generous, brilliant, humble and strong. tremenous mother, wife, sister
She’s a true servant leader – she serves with generosity and she serves well.
Brian – she is the most giving person I know.
Anne – if patty ever wants to know what it was like to pick her up and look into her face as a toddler, she can just pick up June. so often i see pics of june and am sent right back to second grade, coming home from school, and running upstairs to get patty out of her crib after her nap. she was adorable.
G - It took me a long time to realize that patty was a top-flight athlete as a high-school soccer player, and to appreciate that the experience helped her forge some of the admirable charater traits that are often incorrectly assumed to simply redound to the creidt of players of games.
Margaret - Patty is my little-sister-North-Star. This poem says it better than I ever could. I heard this decades ago, and certain people in my life came to mind then, and come to mind now. Patty is one. I started highlighting the lines that REALLY fit Patty. Then I got ¾ of the way through it and had highlighted the whole damn thing. Then I looked at the last ¼. OK. So she’s killing it in every line. (As an example, yesterday she drove many miles to leave a box of quarantine supplies and some cash for a childhood friend who has been forgotten by many. Not by Patty.)
I rewrote this poem to reflect present tense and gender appropriateness (cause we’re talking about a badass woman here). Bessie is cool with it. Here it is:
Success
by Bessie Anderson Stanely
She has achieved success
who lives well,
laughs often, and loves much;
who enjoys the trust of
pure men,
the respect of intelligent women and
the love of little children;
who fills her niche and accomplishes her task;
who leaves the world better than she finds it
whether by an improved poppy,
a perfect poem or a rescued soul;
who never lacks appreciation of Earth's beauty
or fails to express it;
who always looks for the best in others and
gives them the best she has;
whose life is an inspiration;
whose love a benediction
Ange – Patty is beautiful inside and out, a cherished wife, mom, sister, aunt and friend. She’s devoted to her family, and for that we are all lucky.
Lizzy - She is the best player with little kids that I have ever known – she gets in there, right into the child’s world like no one I’ve ever seen. She also has great taste and appreciation for music and the best piggyback song writer on the face of the earth.
Dan – She’s comforting, and loving and I feel like she makes you wanna do the right thing. Whatever that is – she’s got that.
Amanda –Aunt Patty is so accepting and loving. I feel like I could tell her anything –she is so comforting, she loves and accepts you, she makes you feel like she’s known you your entire life. When I talk to her I feel like she’s my own aunt – like my blood. She’s the best .
John (aka Little John) – My mom is the strongest woman I know. She, along with our dad, has raised the most recent cohort of the Moron Club and has done so through endless love, constant support, and a sense of humor at a level difficult for anyone to compete with. She is the best mother I could have ever dreamt of. I love you mom.
Andrew – My mom is the strongest and kindest person I know. The best mom three boys could ask for.
Thomas – My mom is incredibly caring, thoughtful, and thorough in her love for her family, showing up in all sorts of forms. I’m incredibly grateful for her, and love her right back!
Levi – She comes to my house and plays with me.
Amos – She plays with me.
And the last comment, from Kim Flores (Randy’s mom and my co-grandma who has gotten to know Patty well in the past few years) – Patty’s the most amiable person I know. That description doesn’t even go far enough. She makes ME feel good just being in her presence. I could quarantine with her anytime.
Happy B-day Pidge. You are so very loved.
God Bless us and save us and keep us from harm.
Love, Margy
