PATTI! MY SISTER, MY FRIEND!

MY AMAZING SISTER, PATTI! 

Eight years ago today I lost my sister & friend, Patti!  Her Joy & Love of Life was contagious.   I’m blessed with memories that I’ll cherish forever.

Patti taught me so much…

about life, friends, living well, facing challenges with a positive attitude and so much more.    

Patti, Doug, Bill & I all lived in Champaign where we attended the University of Illinois.   After Bill & I got married, we lived with Patti & Doug while searching for a place to live… which turned out to be above the Flying Tomato Brothers Pizza Parlor.  (Learn more about that adventure in our “The Early Years” post here!) Picture below:   Doug & Patti visited us on our honeymoon in June, 1972.  That’s what I call a close family!   LOL

One important lesson Patti taught me in our very early weeks of married life was how to prepare a meal for more than two in a kitchen that could barely fit 2 people! LOL! I’ve always had a love of baking, but needed help in the “main course department”! I remember how flustered I was the first time I tried fixing dinner for company. It was a challenge to get everything prepped, cooked / baked & served warm. Patti to the rescue!

What she shared with me were and still are great lessons for so many areas of Life!

Here are a few basics I learned from my sister:

1. Plan ahead by getting my shopping lists together and organizing stops that need to be made. This has been so helpful, especially as we started a family!
2. As for dinner get togethers: prep as much as possible ahead of time, even 1-2 days early. Don’t wait until the last minute!
3. Clean up as you’re working in the kitchen. This was very important in our cramped kitchen with no dishwasher!

Patti also taught me how to live life well and to take on challenges with a positive attitude. She had a sign on her mirror:
“ Be the Best You Can Be Everyday”!

My sister had health issues from a very young age.   We shared a room growing up.  I remember when our room was literally turned into an oxygen tent when necessary. Pictured below: Patti (standing) my older brother, Johnny, in front of her and me (with the cute head scarf! LOL) in the forefront. Neighbor kids complete the picture!

Patti suffered from asthma her entire life.  But, it didn’t stop her from living a very full life for 63 years!  She married the love of her life in 1970.  She was the proud mother of 3 great people…2 daughters who earned advanced degrees (PsyD & PhD) and an incredible son, Sam. Picture above: Neighbor friend far left. Patti, me and my younger brother, Richie.

Patti was a believer in getting a good education. She earned her bachelor’s degree (1970) and master’s degree (1974) from the University of Illinois. She didn’t stop there. Later in life, Patti decided to go back to school! She earned her doctorate from Northern Arizona University in 1999!

 She worked at the University of Arizona for 23 years and was honored with the Billy Joe Varney Award of Excellence in 1996.  She truly exemplified her life’s motto: “Become the Most Positive and Enthusiastic Person You Know.”

Patti and Doug loved to travel.  In her later years, traveling meant taking portable oxygen along, but that didn’t stop her.  She & Doug visited us everyplace we lived over a 23 year period – that was a lot of places! The picture above is at the Giza Pyramids in Egypt. Below we are hiking Prekistolen in Norway (we were living in Stavanger at that time).

Patti’s passion in life was her love of people. She made the most of life and had more friends than anyone could count.   In fact, in her last days of life, we celebrated her birthday, a Pirate Party!   People came from all over the country to say Happy Birthday to a friend they dearly loved and would never forget. Below is a picture of Doug & Patti in front of the Capitol here in Austin.

Thank you, Patti, for teaching me, your family and all your friends how to live life to the fullest and to be grateful for every single day.

We miss you, but we’ll always have precious memories of you and a Life Very Well Lived.

Love & Miss you!

connie