05/09/2026
As the time comes to lay my friend Patrick to rest, I can’t help but look back on the fifteen years of knowing him and having him be a part of my life—on and off, but mostly on and encapsulate him on my page to remember him always.
Patrick worked for me, and when someone works for you, it’s easy to treat it as just a job in the moment. You don’t always realize the full weight of their contribution, or the quiet mark they leave behind.
Looking around my life now, at all the things Patrick touched, built, and put honest effort into, I’m sad, I’m moved, and I’m proud. I find myself almost in a stupor realizing just how capable the man was. He did those things in the name of earning a living, but always with pride, detail and excellence that couldn't be rivaled.
Patrick was easily the most conflicted man I have known. He was someone who tried so genuinely hard to change his life, but he fought a relentless battle against demons and circumstance that kept pulling him back down.
Over the years, I watched him grow from a young man with massive potential into an older man with emotional weight that overshadowed that potential.
Patrick and I shared hours of honest conversations and bursts of effort to lift him up, working through his mindset, uplifting his everyday life and while I wanted for Patrick to see in himself what I saw, it was Patrick's needs that ruled his life.
Patrick finally succumbed, aged just 43. He leaves behind an empty space, but his hands, his effort, and his memory remain woven into everything around me. Rest easy, my friend, you have definitely earned it.
