Daddy

This is what I posted on social media yesterday. It’s so hard to sum things up in a neat little post but I did my best.

I am heartbroken to say that my dad passed away yesterday. He died on 4.4.22 at 11:11 am which, if you knew him, is very fitting that he chose such a precise number. We miss him so much but feel so lucky that we got to love him and be loved by him for as long as we did. He was extraordinary. He believed in hard work and did just that his entire life to give us the best of everything. Incredibly smart and always curious, he spent his life learning about things that he loved. Whether it was Lionel trains, Ferraris, or watches, he never did anything halfway! Being our dad was the thing he did best though. Despite everything he had to do in life and career, I always knew that home with us was the place he loved to be most. He loved Christmas; he loved working in the yard; he loved building things whether it was our awesome treehouse or shelves for my dorm room; he loved taking us to Disney World. He loved me and my brother and my mom.

He and my mom were married for 48 years and she was his best friend. They were always quite the match – two of the kindest people you will ever meet. The love and care she has shown him over his lifetime, and especially the past few years, will serve as a shining example to us all about how to treat the ones you love most. My dad lived with Parkinson’s for almost 25 years and, despite all the hardships and being forced to give up things that he loved, I never once heard him complain. Never once. That just wasn’t his style. I will continue to live my life trying to make him proud. I will forever hear his voice in my ear asking me if I’m using my best judgement. I will tell my kids how much I love them and how proud I am of them just as he always did with me. My entire life people have told I’m just like him. I can think of no better compliment. How lucky am I to be Steve Patterson’s daughter?