A Friend In Need

She’s more than just a friend… she’s more of a mother! At least that’s what I’ve always considered her! I wish I had taken the time to let her know that.

She’s actually got a Facebook page and that’s how I’ve managed to keep up with her a little. When I noticed she wasn’t posting much, I made a comment asking her what the latest was. That’s when she told me she was battling breast cancer. At first I was shocked! Then I became sad that such a great woman would have to battle something like this!

I can really only tell you that I came to her as a scared little boy who wouldn’t have trusted someone had I been paid. My mother was a drug addict who loved me but couldn’t care for me properly. As a result, I ended up in detention center after detention center for running away from each of the foster homes I was placed in. In a Santa Maria, California detention center, they asked me if I wanted to go to Boys Town and I said yes. I don’t think it was really a choice, but they at least made an effort to make it appear as such.

I was met at the airport by Jim Patrick. I think I was around 10 or 11 at the time. After arriving at the home, I met Pauline Patrick and Joyce Johnson… and 9 other kids in the home, 2 of which belonged to Jim and Pauline. Jessie and Jackie.

I was in a totally new environment. 10 strangers whom I simply wanted to hide from. I stayed in the hallway for most of the first month I was there. That’s when Pauline went to work on me. She became a friend when I didn’t have one. She became a mother when mine was absent. I’ve never known my real father, so Jim became the only father I’d ever known. He’d eventually teach me how to shave and all sorts of “manly” things.

During the summer and Christmas, the other kids would all get to go home for a couple of weeks. I didn’t have that opportunity. I stayed at Boys Town with Jim, Pauline, Jessie and Jackie. During my entire time there, I think I was shipped back to Muldrow, Oklahoma a couple of times to stay with my Granny and sisters, but it didn’t really work out too well. I wasn’t really welcome there because I was my mothers son. My mother had a pretty bad reputation.

After a few years, Jim and Pauline went to Florida. They were doing something with Boys Town down there. I don’t think I was ever the same after they left. It was the first time in years I’d felt abandoned. Years later I understood why they left, but it didn’t help much as a child.

Pauline Patrick... Beautiful inside and out!

Now, almost 30 years later, she’s got breast cancer. I only wish there were something I could do to help her the way she helped me. She has my prayers, of course, but I wish there were something I could physically do to help. If they only knew what an influence they were in my life, they might be able to comprehend what my thought process is. They’re responsible for making me the man I am today… just ask my wife and kids. They can tell you how much I refer to Jim, Pauline and Boys Town as being the reason I am what I am today!

For those of you who may read this, I ask that you please keep Pauline in your prayers. Her family would also appreciate them. She’s recently started the first phase of chemo. She said he hair’s starting to fall out a little. She’s got a great spirit and I’m more than sure she’ll be fine, but your prayers will certainly help!