Example Eulogy for an old friend
These past few days I’ve done a lot of thinking and reflecting, casting my mind back to my earliest memories. So many I haven’t recalled in years, or even decades, yet as they flooded in, I’m amazed how prominently Patrick features. As childhood friends, we grew up a few doors away from each other. His house was my house, mine was his. Our mothers were almost interchangeable too. You could say we were close.
Yet sometimes it takes a moment like this to really appreciate how close. Even at a young age, I was aware of the influence of Patrick and so glad for it. It was he who brought the connection to what was a world outside my own experience. He was innately tapped-in to popular culture even as a kid. Introducing me to the best of comics and video games - He blew my mind the day he showed me his new computer with the video game ‘The Way of the Exploding Fist’. Not even the super Pixelated karate characters, or having to wait for over 20 minutes for the game to load on his computer’s tape deck, was enough to dim the excitement of playing a video game in your own house!
Then as we grew up it was the latest pop music, parties with girls! Clubbing and bars in the city. He was an adventurer, always seeking out the new like he was trying the world on for size to see if this new experience fitted who he wanted to be. This energy was contagious and had a charisma that brought many friends and many good times.
Yet he possessed a focus and grit to strive for what he really wanted and persisted until he achieved it. A trait he carried into his teens and through his adult life. We all know Patrick as an avid writer, a passion that has brought him great success and fulfilment, and for us who enjoys the stories. But I remember when he was around 11 or 12 he wanted to make comics. I went over one day and he had reams of paper with storylines written out. It was my job as ‘a good drawer’ to do all the layouts. Did I say Patrick was very good at delegation? My job was to basically draw the whole comic for him. Well, my work obviously wasn’t very good, because the comic went nowhere. However, that piece of writing became a short story, which became published. His first published story in a magazine. He was so excited. I’m sorry to say I didn’t understand the gravity of it at that time, but it was pivotal and it propelled him forward into the writer he became.
We didn’t go to the same school, and strangely we never really discussed it, but many of his school friends became my own and like me, remained close to him throughout his life. It speaks to his depth of character and conviction. While never stated, Patrick had values and stood by them. As a friend you knew he was with you, and if he wasn’t he’d let you know, yet he always had your interests at heart.
As I think often happens, our lives took divergent paths following careers and an adult world full of new interests and ideas. Our time together became shorter and less frequent, but never less rich. Patrick would make plans for a road trip and call you up after a year of little contact and a couple of weeks notice. Not going just wasn’t an option. He’d buy tickets for a show and call you the week beforehand and tell you what time to be ready. Sometimes it would be an impromptu game night at his home with the rest of the old gang. He never let you slip away because he valued the friendships he’d formed.
Patrick’s own family came bursting into the world with his loving wife Megan. Soon after two beautiful children followed, and brought a new interpretation of that magical spirit their father possessed. A connection to, and compassion for the world around them is something Patrick nurtured and encouraged in his daughter Avery and son Austin. So fortunate to have a father with so much energy for living, and patience and desire to share what he knew of the world with them.
I miss Patrick already, but I also believe he is not gone. He has left a little piece of himself in all of us who knew him and so many great memories to draw upon. He was a shining example for me, in how to truly live a life.
