Years ago, my husband, myself, and our three very young children went to our
first Wenas campout. We were novice birders, and we were astounded by the
talent of the young teenager leading some of the field trips. We asked
around, and learned about the mother and son team of Ruth and Patrick.



Fast forward several years. My own son, Houston, who had spent his school
years mostly playing sports, called me from college at the University of
Arizona. He had seen his first Vermillion Flycatcher and was hooked.
Returning to Seattle, my son and I began birding together and created a bond
that I have always felt that only someone like Ruth and Patrick could
appreciate. Two years ago I finally got to go on a Ruth and Patrick field
trip and Ruth and I had a lovely discussion about how proud we were to have
sons that shared our passion for birding.



This morning when I first read the about Patrick, of course I called my own
son. I had been out of town for a family memorial service, and Houston told
me he had decided not to call earlier with the sad news because he knew it
would be upsetting. We then shared our memories of the mother and son
birding team who really made it okay for another young man to be able to
say, yes, I go birding with my mom. So thank you, Patrick, for along with
so much else you gave to the world, you were an inspiration to young birders
who just want to go birding with their moms.



Paula Flores

Sammamish, WA

floresnw AT gte.net