Ah dear dear Patrick...I can't remenber now just when Patrick (as he liked to be called later in life) died, but it was a few years before our 50th.
We re-connected at the 40th just before I was getting ready to go home. I heard some one mention his name, so I went to find him. My first impression was of someone who had been "rode hard and put away wet". That may have been his body, but not his soul which is what I recognized. We had never dated, but shared being on the Neptune swim team and "played" clarinet together in the MHS band. Turns out there was an old spark of potential friendship that had never blossomed. He said he had never forgotten my eyes and always had a secret affection for me.
What ensued for the following seven years or so was one of the most beautiful and deep platonic friendships I have ever had. He lived in Las Vegas and I was mostly in Petaluma. He was a very spiritual man and we could and did spend many hours on the phone delving into that and many other subjects. He left me his very prized spiritual books before he died. He said he came to view me as a friend/teacher/mentor as I assisted him while he dealt with some difficult personal issues.
He always cracked me up and I can still "hear" his gravelly voice. I notice that he is one of the few people in my life who has passed on who still floats in periodically so I can say "Hi sweety". I still miss him.
He used to joke that if he knew he was going to live "this" long he would have taken better care of himself. As it was he had some physical injuries resulting from an untoward accident and then had lazily refused to deal with suspected, but undiagnosed diabetes which took its toll with neurapathy and loss of more and more eyesight..
He called one day to pursuade me to be his driver, so he could complete a Sonoma county bucket list that included visits to places and people he wanted to re-connect with. We had a lovely journey and I'm so grateful to have done this with him. My partner Michael came to love him as well.
I remember he was getting so excited to go visit his son Austin who had moved to Cody, WY. They hadn't seen each other for a while and this was going to be a special reunion. He flew in on Friday and spent the rest of the day and evening sharing food and lots of conversation and love that at times had been hard for them to express. I like to believe that all unresolved "business" between them had been handled because when Austin went to wake him Saturday morning he had gone. Austin, whom I had met, called me to let me know. In fact I have never erased that voice message...Very bittersweet.
Patrick had a colorful yet at times difficult life which I think he came to terms with. What I saw and loved so much was his open loving heart. One of the things I have come to understand about myself is that one of the aspects of this life for me is about completing soul chapters of relationships. That is what I always thought Partick and I were doing. We already "knew" each other and had gotten back in proximity to finish everything left undone. RIP
Anni's tribute to Pat comes about as close to a gold standard as I have ever seen...beautiful and heart-felt. Like so many of my MHS classmates, he and I were friendly acquaintances, not "pals" as such. The memory of Pat that's stuck with me whenever I ran across his name or saw his picture in our year book is that he was a humble, kind, and gentle soul who did not seek the limelight, yet would likely have put himself in danger during any crisis to save someone else's life. Thanks Anni for sharing a much fuller account of who Pat was as a human being, and the struggles he dealt with in life. It's clear you lost a true, dear friend with his passing.
Anni Throndson (Law)
Ah dear dear Patrick...I can't remenber now just when Patrick (as he liked to be called later in life) died, but it was a few years before our 50th.
We re-connected at the 40th just before I was getting ready to go home. I heard some one mention his name, so I went to find him. My first impression was of someone who had been "rode hard and put away wet". That may have been his body, but not his soul which is what I recognized. We had never dated, but shared being on the Neptune swim team and "played" clarinet together in the MHS band. Turns out there was an old spark of potential friendship that had never blossomed. He said he had never forgotten my eyes and always had a secret affection for me.
What ensued for the following seven years or so was one of the most beautiful and deep platonic friendships I have ever had. He lived in Las Vegas and I was mostly in Petaluma. He was a very spiritual man and we could and did spend many hours on the phone delving into that and many other subjects. He left me his very prized spiritual books before he died. He said he came to view me as a friend/teacher/mentor as I assisted him while he dealt with some difficult personal issues.
He always cracked me up and I can still "hear" his gravelly voice. I notice that he is one of the few people in my life who has passed on who still floats in periodically so I can say "Hi sweety". I still miss him.
He used to joke that if he knew he was going to live "this" long he would have taken better care of himself. As it was he had some physical injuries resulting from an untoward accident and then had lazily refused to deal with suspected, but undiagnosed diabetes which took its toll with neurapathy and loss of more and more eyesight..
He called one day to pursuade me to be his driver, so he could complete a Sonoma county bucket list that included visits to places and people he wanted to re-connect with. We had a lovely journey and I'm so grateful to have done this with him. My partner Michael came to love him as well.
I remember he was getting so excited to go visit his son Austin who had moved to Cody, WY. They hadn't seen each other for a while and this was going to be a special reunion. He flew in on Friday and spent the rest of the day and evening sharing food and lots of conversation and love that at times had been hard for them to express. I like to believe that all unresolved "business" between them had been handled because when Austin went to wake him Saturday morning he had gone. Austin, whom I had met, called me to let me know. In fact I have never erased that voice message...Very bittersweet.
Patrick had a colorful yet at times difficult life which I think he came to terms with. What I saw and loved so much was his open loving heart. One of the things I have come to understand about myself is that one of the aspects of this life for me is about completing soul chapters of relationships. That is what I always thought Partick and I were doing. We already "knew" each other and had gotten back in proximity to finish everything left undone. RIP
Jim Barnes
Dear Annie,
Thank you for your wonderful tribute to Patrick and all about your great relationship with him.
Hope to see you at our 55th in September 2020.
Best,
JIM
Lane Johnston
Anni's tribute to Pat comes about as close to a gold standard as I have ever seen...beautiful and heart-felt. Like so many of my MHS classmates, he and I were friendly acquaintances, not "pals" as such. The memory of Pat that's stuck with me whenever I ran across his name or saw his picture in our year book is that he was a humble, kind, and gentle soul who did not seek the limelight, yet would likely have put himself in danger during any crisis to save someone else's life. Thanks Anni for sharing a much fuller account of who Pat was as a human being, and the struggles he dealt with in life. It's clear you lost a true, dear friend with his passing.