“Patrick wouldn’t want you to be sad that he’s gone. As a matter of fact, he would tell you he’s exactly where he needs to be. He’d tell you he’s okay. He’d tell you to smile. He’d tell you heaven is real.
Life story
I wanted to take a moment and say please click on the tribute tab and leave any memory you have of Patrick. We want all the stories, and I mean all of them. Don’t feel like you can’t leave a tribute because you don’t have the most appropriate story. When you click tribute, you will have to make an account. It takes two seconds to do, so please do it!
I’ve always been told Patrick was my person growing up. One of my favorite memories from when we were younger is of me crawling into his bed every time I was scared and sleeping under his armpit. Because that’s who he was. He was my big brother. My protector. He even went so far one time as to sit on my car with a baseball bat in the parking lot at school just to make sure that I didn’t get picked on.
Patrick was fiercely loyal and if you were lucky enough to know him, he would do anything to protect you, too. He loved passionately, and that probably got him into more trouble than he would ever admit. At times, he was dysfunctional and unreliable but he was so much more than that. He was adventurous, clever, creative, kind and tough. And he was brave. He woke up every day to fight the same demons that made him so tired the day before. Patrick wasn’t perfect. He struggled with his addiction and let it control his life far longer than he ever could have imagined. He so badly wanted to be a better person, a better brother, a better son, and most importantly, a better father, but his addiction took over. Patrick wanted nothing more than to be around his son, Ben, and watch him grow up, but his biggest fear was that it would never be enough. He wanted to be the kind of parent he didn’t have growing up, but he never got the chance.
These last few months have felt surreal, full of emotions - sadness and anger, shock and regret, laughter and tears. I can’t help but replay all the unsaid words and the memories never made. It’s hard to put into words how much Patrick meant to me but if there is one thing I know, it’s that Patrick knew who was in his corner, and he loved us fiercely, even when he didn’t say it. I have always looked up to my big brother and that will never change. He put up the hardest fight and if there is any comfort in all of this, it’s knowing that he is finally at peace. I miss you so much Pac-Man and I love you the most.
A 1000 thoughts come to mind when I wrote this. How I don't want it to sound "basic" because that's not who you were. That's not who I am.
It's going to take me awhile to put any words out there for you, for our relationship, or how to say goodbye. Until then people who love and care about Patrick enjoy some of my photos.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to write here
Please share anything you want.
Most importantly thank you, for being who you were to Patrick
