Friday, November 7, 2025
Pat and I shared a special bond, as were both born in April of 1943 and were promoted to full professor at the same time, after long years of struggle to achieve that distinction. After 50 years at Essex, I decided to retire because I couldn’t stand the thought of all online courses during the Covid pandemic. Pat, however, soldiered on, and we kept in touch via email and text. After the pandemic subsided we arranged to meet about once a month for lunch, catch up on everything, having chats and laughter. This continued after her cancer diagnosis and she would keep me posted about her treatments, her excursions to North Carolina for the Arts Conferences and her musical performances with the choir. I kept her informed about all my travels and we eagerly shared all our photos. She always wanted to see where I had been and traveled vicariously with me. In turn, I would bring her silly and sweet refrigerator magnets from wherever I had been, because I loved to see her reaction.
During our lunches, she was able to eat well and share her various worries about the course of her illness; she also commiserated with me during my struggles and was a steadying force in my life. Our last lunch in October was wonderful, despite her fragility, and we were supposed to meet up again at the end of October. It was not to be, however; I cannot express how much seeing her and giving her hugs meant to me, and I celebrate the life of Pat Bartinique, professor and author extraordinaire and good friend always.
