EULOGY – Patricia Evans
October 30, 1959 – July 9, 2022
Written & presented by: Christian Evans

Thank You. Good morning…and thank you for coming. To our beautiful family, to our beloved friends, to our faithful community, our valued clients and colleagues…. Thank you… for your support and your prayers…. we felt them every day. …and I am humbled by your presence here this morning.

Love
Love… it was Patricia’s favorite word. She talked about… she practiced it… in fact, for Patricia… Love was a daily…. a constant practice. …she showed it to everyone, everyone that would stand still. She looked for it… and she inspired love in everyone she encountered…she would frequently remind us that “All you need is love”. It was clear and simple…. anyone that encountered Patricia knew…. she loved love.

At Home
At home…. For me, Patricia was the perfect partner. She made our lives beautiful in so many ways. She loved flowers… we always have fresh-cut flowers in our home. It was one... Read more of her small joys in life to arrange flowers in several of her favorite vases and place them in different rooms around the house for us to admire and appreciate. She didn’t like to cook…that was my job… and I loved it…that is one of my small joys. But she was the best sous chef ever…and loved to make fresh salads that were as beautiful as the flowers she arranged. She always used cloth napkins… took great pride in our home and our quality of life. She loved her motorcycle and her red Mustang convertible. She loved to dress beautifully….even if it was “just another day”.

She loved to sing with me at the piano…as we would belt it out…. And harmonize together and laugh. She made a practice of connecting regularly with friends and nurturing our friendships …something I struggled with …. but she always made sure we showed our friends and family that they were loved. ….in so many ways Patricia and I fit perfectly together. She was my best friend, my favorite. …we used to say: “You're pretty much my most favorite of all time in the history of ever” .

Patricia was my way. …one day we were in the kitchen preparing a meal…and she said…Oh I’m sorry…I’m in your way….I said…Honey, you are not in my way…you ARE my way….and that’s what’s inscribed in her wedding ring. You Are My Way.

Our Family
When it came to our kids… she was a guiding light. Always loving and positive…always paying attention….and brilliantly insightful… Patricia led with Love. Patricia’s emotional intelligence was at the genius level. …she just got it. She understood human dynamics. What motivated people…and how they “worked”. She had an amazing gift to just know what “made everybody tick”. And what they needed most to feel safe and loved.

She used the thank me…. over and over again for sharing and entrusting her with my Son Taylor and my Daughter Adison as her “bonus kids” ….and so often, when my kids would call for guidance or help, it was Patricia’s emotional intelligence that was the guiding light.

…and our daughter Holly…well, they were stitched together like fine silk…. flowing beautifully…side by side… Holly was “her best”. …and she really is Patricia’s best… quite like her in so many ways. In fact, if you looked at the contacts in Patricia’s cell phone… Holly is listed in Patricia’s phone…not under “H” for Holly….but under “M”… for “My Best”. …and I am eternally grateful that Patricia entrusted Holly to me as bonus daughter and I her bonus Dad. I’m glad she trusted me to be the guy that could be a good role model for Holly… as we navigated the years together as a family.

Together, we got the chance to show our kids how amazing it is to be in love… to love and cherish and honor your partner…how to grow a relationship…. How to create a sustainable love partnership, where neither one of us ever “kept score” …

Patricia the Miracle….
Once in a while, Patricia would lean in and snuggle up to me and ask…. what do you love about me? I would tell her EVERYTHING. “I love your smile, I love your laughter, I love your beautiful eyes…your face, your beautiful heart… your spirit …your soul …. I love the way you hold me…the way you love me… the way we laugh and cry together… and the way you always lead with love. I love the mother you are to our children… I love the inspiration and miracle you are to the people you work with… I love everything about you.

I cherished that love….and we adored each other. I was the lucky guy who got to share her life and love…. be her best friend, her confidant, and her husband. We had a romance and love story like no other I have ever known. …and it was a process. an active process we worked on every day. …In fact, over the years…as we grew together… if we hit a bump in the road… or if somehow, we hurt each other… we had a little metaphor we embraced. …and we would use this metaphor of the “The Stradivarius” … to remind each other how lucky we were…or when we needed to remember we had something special. …

Stradivarius
Stradivarius Violins were made by Antonio Stradivari, the legendary violin maker, who 350 years ago…. created just the right formula…the right shape… the right materials… the right finish… all the right ingredients, assembled perfectly... hand-crafting the most magnificent violins ever made. Today…even with modern technology…. even the most extraordinary luthiers cannot replicate these amazing instruments. …and only 650 original Stradivarius violins remain. They are regarded as the most precious violins in the world. We often reminded each other of how we would feel…if someone were to enter the room right now… with a Stradivarius …and what if they would ever so carefully hand it us. Our natural reaction would be one of awe…of amazement… of honor and respect….it would leave us breathless. AHHHHHH…. She was my Stradivarius…. I knew she was rare…and precious …and one of a kind…. And that’s the way we treated one another.

Patricia Forged Deep Friendships
Many of you know this firsthand… because this is the way Patricia treated you as well. …forging deep and beautiful relationships, “fun-ships” and friendships…treating you with the same awe and reverence as a Stradivarius. She knew…and lived… and loved…. as if every encounter, was a sacred encounter.

I remember our dear friends who had a baby a number of years ago… and although the baby was very healthy as a newborn, after a week or so the baby was actually losing weight as it was struggling to latch on…and find nourishment. Patricia immediately rose to the occasion…and went to that new mother and worked with her for the next week…showing her all the tricks of early motherhood… that’s all that was needed to turn that situation around…. And today that child is a wonder…a healthy and beautiful gift.

Patricia was never afraid to roll up her sleeves…and get her hands dirty. …I remember Hurricane Sandy in 2012…when our community was without electricity… without power for over a week… Patricia grabbed cleaning supplies and visited the older residents in our community….to help them clean out their refrigerators and make sure they had everything they needed.

Patricia loved children. For many years she was the elementary school music teacher in several districts here in North Jersey. We had a fun ritual we developed…where she would come home after school…and tell me one funny story that happened with her Kindergarten kids…or 1st or 2nd grade children. She would tell me about the role Music had in their school day….how it was a place where they could have fun…where they could unwind… and relax and be creative and learn…. She had a rule for every child in those classes…she would line them up outside the classroom door. …and before they were allowed to enter that special classroom…. They had to give Patricia their “ticket”. Their ticket was their smile….and once they entered the classroom she would put on the “beat song”…. Encouraging every child to keep the beat with some part of their body… they could clap their hands or tap their fingers or march around…or dance….they just had to smile…and keep the beat. That’s the way every class began. She had the gift of teaching… and boy…how it worked… it was unbelievable. I marveled at how by 2nd grade she could actually sing a simple song to her classes, and they could actually notate that simple melody….placing each note correctly on the music staff…actually writing music.

After Patricia’s tenure in public schools…and I remember, it was right after her mother Eileen passed away…she started taking horseback riding lessons. She loved grooming and caring for her horse….and spending countless hours at the stable, enjoying that time with the horse…that time of healing for her. There at the farm, she encountered a woman named Cindy while volunteering to be a guide for equine therapy sessions for young people with special abilities. One day…. the manager of the stable said…” hey Patricia….you and Cindy should talk… Cindy is the CEO of a non-profit …and they’re always looking for talented people. And Cindy… Patricia has a ton of talent.”… Well, that was the gateway of Patricia’s work with Abilities.

Cindy told Patricia about her non-profit that was founded by her mother almost 50 years ago… an organization that now served almost 400 adults with special abilities… She went on to tell Patricia that they always dreamed of having a music program… but they never had anyone that could put it all together... and Cindy asked Patricia… ‘’do you think this is something you could do?”
Well, that was music to Patricia’s ears, and soon she became their Developer of Music and Arts …bringing weekly music classes and activities to hundreds of the Abilities family… offering them a chance to sing and perform…creating opportunities for the Abilities family to feel the power and magic that only music could impart. …she even wrote their theme song and everyone at Abilities was so honored and proud that they had their own song….

Beautiful Love Story
So, yes…Patricia was an influencer. ….and she made a difference. When I look around…. I see the fingerprints of God in everything she touched. She influenced and changed every life she encountered. …and she did this in such a remarkable and loving way. Right? Show me… raise your hand… if Patricia moved you…. Or changed you…. Or showed you Love. Right?

….together we get to remember this…and live this…. to tell this beautiful love story… built in faith and trust and honor and fun and creativity and passion. This is what she wanted… this is what she lived for.

Something Magical
In closing…I wanted to share a lyric from a song that I wrote for Patricia… about the way she changed the room…. The minute she entered.

Something Magical happens every time, you walk in the room.
As I stop…and stair…at every step… every breath…that’s you.
I can’t explain, it’s like raining champagne… or dancing in the light of the moon
What do you say, when an angel speaks your name…and whispers “I love you”
..something wonderful happens, happiness happens
…something Magical Happens… when I’m with you.

Walk Patrish to Heaven’s Door
Thank you again for coming today…for sharing in this Holy Sacrament…. to this sacred place, where together we can walk Patricia to Heaven’s Door….and watch her again… lead the way with love… into her eternal life and home with our Lord and Creator.

Thank you, Patricia
Patricia thank you… from all of us… for the lifetime of beauty and love you shared…for the amazing life you lived… the beauty and the love that you are. Read less

EULOGY – Patricia Evans
October 30, 1959 – July 9, 2022
Written & presented by: Christian Evans

Thank You. Good morning…and thank you for coming. To our beautiful family, to our beloved friends, to our faithful community, our valued clients and colleagues…. Thank you… for your support and your prayers…. we felt them every day. …and I am humbled by your presence here this morning.

Love
Love… it was Patricia’s favorite word. She talked about… she practiced it… in fact, for Patricia… Love... Read more was a daily…. a constant practice. …she showed it to everyone, everyone that would stand still. She looked for it… and she inspired love in everyone she encountered…she would frequently remind us that “All you need is love”. It was clear and simple…. anyone that encountered Patricia knew…. she loved love.

At Home
At home…. For me, Patricia was the perfect partner. She made our lives beautiful in so many ways. She loved flowers… we always have fresh-cut flowers in our home. It was one of her small joys in life to arrange flowers in several of her favorite vases and place them in different rooms around the house for us to admire and appreciate. She didn’t like to cook…that was my job… and I loved it…that is one of my small joys. But she was the best sous chef ever…and loved to make fresh salads that were as beautiful as the flowers she arranged. She always used cloth napkins… took great pride in our home and our quality of life. She loved her motorcycle and her red Mustang convertible. She loved to dress beautifully….even if it was “just another day”.

She loved to sing with me at the piano…as we would belt it out…. And harmonize together and laugh. She made a practice of connecting regularly with friends and nurturing our friendships …something I struggled with …. but she always made sure we showed our friends and family that they were loved. ….in so many ways Patricia and I fit perfectly together. She was my best friend, my favorite. …we used to say: “You're pretty much my most favorite of all time in the history of ever” .

Patricia was my way. …one day we were in the kitchen preparing a meal…and she said…Oh I’m sorry…I’m in your way….I said…Honey, you are not in my way…you ARE my way….and that’s what’s inscribed in her wedding ring. You Are My Way.

Our Family
When it came to our kids… she was a guiding light. Always loving and positive…always paying attention….and brilliantly insightful… Patricia led with Love. Patricia’s emotional intelligence was at the genius level. …she just got it. She understood human dynamics. What motivated people…and how they “worked”. She had an amazing gift to just know what “made everybody tick”. And what they needed most to feel safe and loved.

She used the thank me…. over and over again for sharing and entrusting her with my Son Taylor and my Daughter Adison as her “bonus kids” ….and so often, when my kids would call for guidance or help, it was Patricia’s emotional intelligence that was the guiding light.

…and our daughter Holly…well, they were stitched together like fine silk…. flowing beautifully…side by side… Holly was “her best”. …and she really is Patricia’s best… quite like her in so many ways. In fact, if you looked at the contacts in Patricia’s cell phone… Holly is listed in Patricia’s phone…not under “H” for Holly….but under “M”… for “My Best”. …and I am eternally grateful that Patricia entrusted Holly to me as bonus daughter and I her bonus Dad. I’m glad she trusted me to be the guy that could be a good role model for Holly… as we navigated the years together as a family.

Together, we got the chance to show our kids how amazing it is to be in love… to love and cherish and honor your partner…how to grow a relationship…. How to create a sustainable love partnership, where neither one of us ever “kept score” …

Patricia the Miracle….
Once in a while, Patricia would lean in and snuggle up to me and ask…. what do you love about me? I would tell her EVERYTHING. “I love your smile, I love your laughter, I love your beautiful eyes…your face, your beautiful heart… your spirit …your soul …. I love the way you hold me…the way you love me… the way we laugh and cry together… and the way you always lead with love. I love the mother you are to our children… I love the inspiration and miracle you are to the people you work with… I love everything about you.

I cherished that love….and we adored each other. I was the lucky guy who got to share her life and love…. be her best friend, her confidant, and her husband. We had a romance and love story like no other I have ever known. …and it was a process. an active process we worked on every day. …In fact, over the years…as we grew together… if we hit a bump in the road… or if somehow, we hurt each other… we had a little metaphor we embraced. …and we would use this metaphor of the “The Stradivarius” … to remind each other how lucky we were…or when we needed to remember we had something special. …

Stradivarius
Stradivarius Violins were made by Antonio Stradivari, the legendary violin maker, who 350 years ago…. created just the right formula…the right shape… the right materials… the right finish… all the right ingredients, assembled perfectly... hand-crafting the most magnificent violins ever made. Today…even with modern technology…. even the most extraordinary luthiers cannot replicate these amazing instruments. …and only 650 original Stradivarius violins remain. They are regarded as the most precious violins in the world. We often reminded each other of how we would feel…if someone were to enter the room right now… with a Stradivarius …and what if they would ever so carefully hand it us. Our natural reaction would be one of awe…of amazement… of honor and respect….it would leave us breathless. AHHHHHH…. She was my Stradivarius…. I knew she was rare…and precious …and one of a kind…. And that’s the way we treated one another.

Patricia Forged Deep Friendships
Many of you know this firsthand… because this is the way Patricia treated you as well. …forging deep and beautiful relationships, “fun-ships” and friendships…treating you with the same awe and reverence as a Stradivarius. She knew…and lived… and loved…. as if every encounter, was a sacred encounter.

I remember our dear friends who had a baby a number of years ago… and although the baby was very healthy as a newborn, after a week or so the baby was actually losing weight as it was struggling to latch on…and find nourishment. Patricia immediately rose to the occasion…and went to that new mother and worked with her for the next week…showing her all the tricks of early motherhood… that’s all that was needed to turn that situation around…. And today that child is a wonder…a healthy and beautiful gift.

Patricia was never afraid to roll up her sleeves…and get her hands dirty. …I remember Hurricane Sandy in 2012…when our community was without electricity… without power for over a week… Patricia grabbed cleaning supplies and visited the older residents in our community….to help them clean out their refrigerators and make sure they had everything they needed.

Patricia loved children. For many years she was the elementary school music teacher in several districts here in North Jersey. We had a fun ritual we developed…where she would come home after school…and tell me one funny story that happened with her Kindergarten kids…or 1st or 2nd grade children. She would tell me about the role Music had in their school day….how it was a place where they could have fun…where they could unwind… and relax and be creative and learn…. She had a rule for every child in those classes…she would line them up outside the classroom door. …and before they were allowed to enter that special classroom…. They had to give Patricia their “ticket”. Their ticket was their smile….and once they entered the classroom she would put on the “beat song”…. Encouraging every child to keep the beat with some part of their body… they could clap their hands or tap their fingers or march around…or dance….they just had to smile…and keep the beat. That’s the way every class began. She had the gift of teaching… and boy…how it worked… it was unbelievable. I marveled at how by 2nd grade she could actually sing a simple song to her classes, and they could actually notate that simple melody….placing each note correctly on the music staff…actually writing music.

After Patricia’s tenure in public schools…and I remember, it was right after her mother Eileen passed away…she started taking horseback riding lessons. She loved grooming and caring for her horse….and spending countless hours at the stable, enjoying that time with the horse…that time of healing for her. There at the farm, she encountered a woman named Cindy while volunteering to be a guide for equine therapy sessions for young people with special abilities. One day…. the manager of the stable said…” hey Patricia….you and Cindy should talk… Cindy is the CEO of a non-profit …and they’re always looking for talented people. And Cindy… Patricia has a ton of talent.”… Well, that was the gateway of Patricia’s work with Abilities.

Cindy told Patricia about her non-profit that was founded by her mother almost 50 years ago… an organization that now served almost 400 adults with special abilities… She went on to tell Patricia that they always dreamed of having a music program… but they never had anyone that could put it all together... and Cindy asked Patricia… ‘’do you think this is something you could do?”
Well, that was music to Patricia’s ears, and soon she became their Developer of Music and Arts …bringing weekly music classes and activities to hundreds of the Abilities family… offering them a chance to sing and perform…creating opportunities for the Abilities family to feel the power and magic that only music could impart. …she even wrote their theme song and everyone at Abilities was so honored and proud that they had their own song….

Beautiful Love Story
So, yes…Patricia was an influencer. ….and she made a difference. When I look around…. I see the fingerprints of God in everything she touched. She influenced and changed every life she encountered. …and she did this in such a remarkable and loving way. Right? Show me… raise your hand… if Patricia moved you…. Or changed you…. Or showed you Love. Right?

….together we get to remember this…and live this…. to tell this beautiful love story… built in faith and trust and honor and fun and creativity and passion. This is what she wanted… this is what she lived for.

Something Magical
In closing…I wanted to share a lyric from a song that I wrote for Patricia… about the way she changed the room…. The minute she entered.

Something Magical happens every time, you walk in the room.
As I stop…and stair…at every step… every breath…that’s you.
I can’t explain, it’s like raining champagne… or dancing in the light of the moon
What do you say, when an angel speaks your name…and whispers “I love you”
..something wonderful happens, happiness happens
…something Magical Happens… when I’m with you.

Walk Patrish to Heaven’s Door
Thank you again for coming today…for sharing in this Holy Sacrament…. to this sacred place, where together we can walk Patricia to Heaven’s Door….and watch her again… lead the way with love… into her eternal life and home with our Lord and Creator.

Thank you, Patricia
Patricia thank you… from all of us… for the lifetime of beauty and love you shared…for the amazing life you lived… the beauty and the love that you are. Read less