Patricia Herndon

Patricia Sue Herndon...was an incredible person. She lived one of those lives with a lot of stories and experiences. She was born in 1946 in Maryland, but soon after moved to Hialeah with her father, James "Papaw" Holt, her sister Vivian, and her mother, Nadine "Granny" Holt.

Patricia was a Bunny...a waitress at the Playboy Club in Hialeah. Her beauty got her the job, and her wit helped her keep it. She'd introduce herself as Bunny Pat, pointing out that was a name, not an instruction. Everything on the menu was a dollar, and if it wasn't on the menu, then it wasn't for sale. An incredible experience associated with this was doing a photo shoot with the minor league baseball team in town at the time, which also happened to be called the Miami Marlins. She loved football, cheering for the Miami Dolphins and the Florida Gators.

She would stay in the restaurant business for several years, and soon after settled down with a Miami Police officer and had a son, Sean. She would soon after become a single mother, raising him with the help of her sister Vivian and Granny and Papaw. She became a nail technician, balancing work and parenting to the point of having Sean dropped off from after-school care at her nail salon and taking him home after work.

When Sean turned 11, Patricia's high school sweetheart, Richard Herndon, came back into her life, this time to stay. They spent the rest of their lives together, though only officially marrying several years after reuniting. A few years after they got together, Sean asked her an out of the blue question, but was equally surprised by the answer. They had moved to Pompano Beach, and lived across the street from grandparents raising a boy Sean's age. They became fast friends, and as they talked about James' life, they came to the NATURAL conclusion that clearly the best idea would be for him to live with them instead. Sean suggested it during dinner, expecting it to be rejected out of hand as a silly idea.

It wasn't. She'd already been thinking about it herself, and with Sean's suggestion, they decided to talk to his grandparents and take him in. That boy, James, now has a beautiful wife and two sons of his own, as much Patricia's son and Sean's brother as any biological child. She got this adoptive quality from her own mother, Nadine, who would take care of neighborhood kids in times of need.

She was a huge source of support during Sean's time in Gainesville at the University of Florida, with advice, wake-up calls (figuratively and literally) and encouragement when times were tough. Sean's life brought him back to his mother some time later, she and Richard needing some help and him needing a life reset. It was during his time there that life showed one of its most unkind, unfair edges. In 2016, Patricia had a massive stroke. The Emergency Room doctor told Sean to expect the worst at any moment, but showing a streak of stubborn will, that moment lasted almost ten years, even as Patricia survived her husband's passing.

While she did survive, her life was sadly diminished, bedbound in permanent nursing home care. But even as her frustration grew in being trapped there, her somewhat reduced cognition not always able to understand why, the essence of who she was remained. The staff at Quitman's Presbyterian Home came to adore her, even as she sometimes went on cranky rants against things like bath nights.

As the years went on, her body began to fail her and she'd visit the hospital more and more. However, she always bounced back, to the point that the most recent trip being the last still came as a minor surprise. However, while her loss on this physical plane is sorely felt, her family takes joy in the fact that her suffering has ended. She's no longer bound to a bed, half her body unresponsive. She has full use of her mind and intellect. She's finally free.

Later in her life, Patricia became the "Indian Maiden" and the "Indian Mama", her being ⅛ Cherokee. She took fascination in the ways of Native American tribes, studying things like the White Buffalo Woman, collecting dream catchers, attending pow wows, the whole nine yards. The White Buffalo Woman taught that after death, the soul journeys across creation before returning to the Great Spirit. So one journey has come to an end, but for Patricia, another journey has just begun.