Pat and Kaye built their house soon after my parents built ours on Terra Lane. They lived right next to us. They were a second set of parents to my sisters and me. They had an open door policy to us our entire lives. When they built the pool in the backyard, it was a game changer for fun and memories. I don’t ever remember Pat yelling at me as a child and always treated me with kindness, love and respect. Always. She and Kaye had that way of making you feel like an adult understanding you had a long way until you got there. And when we got there, we were always one of their kids. After my eye surgeries and the loss of ny eye, if I came over to swim, she would just come and sit. We’d talk and catch up. No judgment just acceptance, peace, which were things I desperately needed back then. When I had my son, she accepted him as her own, and he too got to hang out in her pool. My parents had a firepit, Pat and Kay had one. There were many a fire in those fire pits where we’d gather around and share stories of and about life. I sat at both Pat and Kaye’s kitchen table and played Uno with both sets of parents. I participated in the teasing, but mostly listened as the adults talked on every aspect of their lives, from us kids, to work, through life. Their backyard barbecues were legend, and there were plenty of times yard work was a joint effort. We had some huge bonfires in the ravine down through the years. Speaking of legendary fires. One Fall mom and Pat decided to start a fire on the hill of the ravine to get rid of the leaves. What was a great idea to save some work didn’t take into consideration how dry the leaves were nor how windy it was that day. They didn’t burn either house down, just set dad’s woodpile up in flames before the garden houses could stop the inferno. Pat tolerated my years of snare drum practice. No one had air conditioning back then, so the windows of both houses were wide open. Most of all she was tolerant of all the awkward, good, sad, and real that I went through in my life, as I witnessed her do for others in their lives. Pat and Kaye were a living lesson in the enduring power of love. Pat was the talker of the two of them, but you could see and feel the love they shared. I never remember them talking about it. I do remember them showing it by how they treated each other and cared for one another. Their love and marriage was a sanctuary for those of us blessed to know them. I’ve been flooded with memories since I learned of her passing. The beautiful kind that remind you that you were loved. She was a beautiful woman physically. But her true beauty was her heart and her love for us. Especially her fierce and abiding love for her family, and her undying love for Kaye. That kind of love is the best of us, and carry’s us through so much not right in life, even our grief. Love is powerful like that. Eternal like that. Pat had that kind of love for each of us. And we were blessed and the better for it. My heart, thoughts, prayers and love are with Kaye and the family. You have my deepest condolences. Pat was beautiful in the best ways beautiful is. And taught us all about it by showing us. 💐🫶🫂🤟🏽💐 
