From the get go Patrick was not one to do anything small. He was born the exact day, almost the exact time, at the same hospital as Terry Bradshaw’s daughter. Patrick was born with a tint of my red hair along with the freckles. It didn’t take him long to realize that he needed to develop his humorous sid in order to pull off not being picked on in school. He always thought it was so neat that every year not only did he have his birthday to celebrate but in March he always had a day created just for him. It took me years to convince him that we weren’t Irish but if we were we only had a wee bit of Irish blood in us.
Patrick was never a big kid so when he played pee wee football he was given the nickname Spanky. Ironically he later tried out for the Alfalfa role for Little Rascals and was one of the last 6 in the running. Movie stardom wasn’t in the cards at that time but he was given a few more shots (ie: a Pepsi commercial and a HBO film “Kids are Punny”). He wasn’t chosen for either of these roles but had we had the means to pursue a career for him I’m sure he would’ve landed something. The Dallas Morning News featured a great article of him when HBO came out. This is definitely something that I treasure.

Sadly life was not easy for Patrick growing up. He did not have a male role model in his life as I divorced his dad at a young age. His dad wasn’t a part of his life. As Patrick grew into a man he felt it was his duty to be the man of the house and protect me and his sister. I tried numerous times to convince him to just be a kid and let me worry about the grownup stuff but he was hard headed.

Since he was so hard headed he made the decision in his younger years not to be a follower but to be who he wanted to be. Although some of his decisions I did not agree with and I would have to put my foot down he would be so passionate about things once his mind was made up.

In talking about passion and Patrick, I can’t leave out his absolute love for animals. His quest for knowledge about things that pertained to animals was astounding. Growing up he had always wanted to be a zoologist. Sadly I just didn’t have the means to help him pursue his dream.

Patrick as I’m sure everyone says in their essays, but I can attest, had a heart of gold when he chose to let you in. He yearned for family get together’s so that he can just be surrounded by those he loved so much.

He didn’t know a stranger that’s for sure and he never thought he was better than anyone else or that anyone was better than him. He felt he was on a level playing field no matter who his audience was.

Patrick was determined for greatness. He may have gotten sidetracked along the way but the death of his best friend in April 2010 opened his eyes to how short life was and how every minute is a blessing. He had made the choice that he wanted to follow in his grandpa’s footsteps and become a firefighter. He loved the Lord and on July 24 Patrick was helping a female friend in need as she was helping him get on his feet to start college last fall. Evil met Patrick that night and although I struggle with the why’s the only solace I get is to know the unselfish decision was made to help other’s live a better quality of life. There was never a hesitation when I was approached about donating his organs, tissues, skin, etc.. Truly that’s what Patrick would’ve wanted.

“If there were a world without humor, there would be no feelings. If humor had never been made up, I would just die. It would be like not having air or water. There would be no Patrick Nunnelley because all I’m about is humor.” – Patrick-5th grade quoted from The Dallas Morning News.