Patrick Meadows and Stephanie Shepard Memorial Site
Letters to and from Patrick from over the years. I am attempting to remove last names in the interest of privacy. Many of his old letters are undated. When that happens I make an educated guess (in terms of posting dates for this web site) but I could be wildly off in some cases.
I found several versions of this letter from December 2006 to March 2010, but the differences were mostly cosmetic. This is pasted from the 2010 version. Around St. Patrick´s day 1976, I left Tampa with my five year old daughter. We returned to Mallorca where she was born. Dear Stephanie. You always believed in something […]
Here’s another letter to Patrick I found in the backup (Planck) of a backup (Fourier) of a backup (GWG6) folder, originally a XyWrite file dated 20 February 1988. It includes a challenge to help me find a job in Spain, and to develop an app to transmit music between computers via phone connections. (Of course, […]
I realize that this web site reflects on my dad’s life and his many accomplishments. Patrick was a prolific writer, avid reader, skilled musician, witty raconteur, good friend, and active in pursuit of the arts. He was especially joyful about his relationship with Stephanie which he considered the best thing that ever happened to him. […]
I admire Patrick greatly, just as I admired John, my grandfather who adopted me. Each of my two fathers had special qualities that I value, and each loved me in their own way. Patrick, however, was mostly absent from my life, and from the lives of my sisters, which worried John immensely. In contrast, John […]
Here is a collection of letters from Little Grandmother (Patrick’s mom) to Patrick. She had lovely handwriting. I’m not sure when he scanned these, but they were obviously important (or at least interesting) to him. NOTE: These letters are attached as a PDF file (11 pages), almost 48 MB in size, so you may choose […]
Here’s a letter from Fred to Patrick, probably 1963. Perhaps the date could be made more exact if we knew when Ann B was born since she is referenced here. The letter includes a poetry critique, some personal observations, and mentions several friends including Bob and Edmund. Completely unrelated. I just transcribed the recording about […]
Patrick liked the writing style in this letter from Gretchen, as did I, though it was painful for him to read. Some references have been edited at my sister’s request. WARNING: Sensitive readers may be offended by this letter’s foul language or the reality of the tale itself. CHAPTER ONE You pegged Pedro dead to […]
Hey Patrick, it’s JP. I’m wearing that robe tonight, the maroon one that you and Ivonne bought for me when I came to visit in Palma—so long ago it seems, although it was really just a year and a half ago. So I’m wearing the maroon robe and I’m thinking about you. You know, things […]
I just came across this e-mail to Diane, which apparently was never sent. I believe Patrick dictated it on his phone, then left it unedited in the Drafts folder of his mail box. It was dated just ten days before his death, 12 April 2017. I started trying to edit it a little, just putting […]
A couple of notes to a sister about Wednesday the 22nd of March. Not sure if you’re getting these email messages. Anyway here’s another from last night. Patrick has taken meds and gone to bed. He’s still in a lot of pain and has a hard time getting around tonight but he had another solid […]
In response to a YouTube video called Rules for Rulers, Patrick responded on 16 Nov ‘ 16: Pretty good video. But democracy has one big problem. If you can keep people dumb with entertainment, and make them think what you want, you control everything without giving true rewards in proportion to the value of the […]
I found this a while ago and posted the letter that was attached to this story, but failed to share the story itself, an error remedied here. By the way the letter concluded with: When you’re sitting down, with coffee & cigarette, anything seems possible. 1 From his mother’s house in Salisbury, Fred called his […]
Patrick and Lee traveled to Oregon after high school. Here’s a story fragment about the experience. He references the Seventh Day Adventist religious group, but he’s actually describing the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a different Christian sect. The fragment is from a collection called You Never Know that Patrick sent me on 11 Aug ’15. South of […]
A story Patrick sent to me on 13 March 2015. In the kitchen preparing breakfast I have bacon on medium heat, abiding by Steinbeck’s advice to cook it slowly, a couple of eggs at the ready, abiding by my own rule never to put eggs in the refrigerator, and humming to myself to cover the […]
Here’s a letter to a sister, dated 11 Feb 2015. He mentions Bob Dreicer, who died a couple of days earlier, Suzy, Frank, and of course Stephanie. There are several poetic lines, including “We use to scoop all that scenery up together. “ Thanks for the fotos. Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too. Any news […]