Gail Ann Patrick

On Monday, February 7th, at 4:00 pm, my beloved mom, Gail Patrick, entered the arms of the Lord. She was surrounded in love in the comfort of her home. While our hearts can hardly contain the pain of our loss, we are so thankful to know that she is free and healthy and whole. She fought so hard for almost 8 years of her illness with optimism, strength, gratitude and humor. She stayed in the present moment until the very end… and then she was ready to go home. We just can’t imagine life without her, but we know we will see her again.

My hope is that this will be a space to share stories and pictures of her gorgeous life. She was the kindest and most generous person I have ever known. Because she knew her time to leave was drawing near, she was so fortunate to have spoken directly with so many of you. The letters, messages, and calls that she recieved were so meaningful to her. She felt so loved and at peace in her final weeks. We are forever grateful for that gift. Thank you. She also explicitly told us that she did not want a traditional memorial service. She never really liked them herself, and true to her nature, she wanted to make things as easy for us as possible. Until the very end, she was thinking of us.

It’s impossible to sum up a life as large as hers. I don’t think I can even try. I will say that she embodied the love of Christ in a way that I have not ever seen. She was always willing to overlook an offense, to initiate connection and support, and to take so much joy in little things. She had a way of making people feel seen and heard… because she truly cared. She spent so much time, even in her last days, connecting with and supporting others. She loved her children and grandchildren with such intensity. She was our biggest fan. She was the best Grama ever. She was the first to get on the floor and play with the kids, to jump in the pool or the lake, to take them on an adventure, play a game, or just to sit and FaceTime for hours. She was the official math tutor, art teacher, and hamburger maker. She was just so much fun. I always felt like my mom loved my kids just as much as I did… and that’s an incredible thing.

My mom spent her entire life learning, growing and changing. She’s the only person I know who would take a college calculus class for “fun”, but she did. She wanted to keep her mind sharp. She learned to play the upright bass in her fifties and even played in a Bluegrass band. She played several other instruments and sang in a quartet and at church, despite the fact that she really didn’t like the attention of being on stage. She was a talented artist and was always experimenting and learning new techniques, even in this last year. She could ride a unicycle, juggle, water and snow ski, and loved being outside and in the water. She and my dad built their own house as young adults, learned to windsurf and sail, and took us on some amazing family adventures. One Christmas, after I was an adult, she asked for roller skates and spent quite a lot of time rolling around the neighborhood. :) She loved nature, animals, and birds, and taught me to appreciate those things as well. She was an incredibly faithful and spiritual person, and was always seeking wisdom and truth. She believed whole heartedly that the point of life was to love God and love others, and she adjusted her life and beliefs as she learned to do that more and more deeply. She was such a wise and humble woman. I learned so much from her.

She had a very fulfilling career as a math teacher at San Jacinto Community College. She was so smart- the valedictorian of her high school class- but her heart was for those who felt intimidated by math. She helped countless people pursue careers that otherwise would be out of reach by helping them break through the barriers of “math trauma” she so often saw in her students. She wanted everyone to know that they were capable of learning, and she did everything she could to see them succeed. She loved her students with such authenticity and tenderness.

Of course, the most important person in my mom’s life was my dad. They were married almost 50 years. In these last years of doctor and hospital visits, I have lost count of the number of times I have heard someone say that their tenderness and care for one another is an inspiration. And it’s true. Marriage has taken on an entire new depth of meaning to me after witnessing the type of love that endures and even thrives in the midst of such intense suffering. He took such great care of her. They were the best of friends and shared an amazing, adventurous and brave life together. Somehow we will go on, moment by moment, without her here. We know she’s waiting for us.  

She had a blog for many years, detailing her medical journey. So many found inspiration and comfort in her words. The link is below.

https://gailpatrick.wordpress.com/

Make sure to check out the "momentos" tab for some great videos and photos. :)

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to RIP Medical Debt, who's mission is to end medical debt and be a source of justice in an unjust healthcare finance system. She was so fortunate to not have a financial struggle, but she had so much empathy and compassion for those she knew who were burdened with the outrageous cost of healthcare in the midst of tragedy. This particular campaign was started by her church's youth group.  The link is below.

https://ripmedicaldebt.org/campaign/brazos-valley-medical-debt-forgiveness/