More Memories of Patti ~ Older Years

In Loving Memory of

Patricia "Patti" Margaret Lakernick

October 15, 1988 - May 24, 2002

Patti Our Princess Angel, 13 years old, 2 weeks before the accident.

Last night I heard you whisper
I felt a breeze from high
You touched me with your spirit
I felt your wings swoop by

My heart so filled with sorrow
I miss your special glow
No matter where I look now
My tears they seem to flow

Touch me with your softness
Fill me with your peace
Promise me tomorrow
The sadness will decrease

Something that you touched here
The pillow where you slept
I lay upon that pillow
My heart and soul has wept

Yes, I hear your laughter
I see your special grin
Your eyes were so magnificent
Reflections now begin

Colors of a rainbow
That fall now from the sky
Each day in life you'll bring them
I'll never say good-bye

Oh yes I shall remember
The words that we did share
These moments now are treasured
With love that's always there

Sweet and gentle Angel
Your wings make of fine lace
Touch me in the morning
At night my heart embrace.
Written by ~FrancinePucillo~

Patti at 11 years old, in 5th grade. She had a doctor's appointment and after the appointment I asked her
if she wanted to go back to school, to work, or should we be bad and play hooky?
We chose to be bad! It was well worth it!

Patti again at 11 years old.

Patti is 12 years old here, she is on her way to her band concert.
She was playing the flute in her Middle School Band.

Crazy girly girls on Christmas day 2001. They got tons and tons of everything they wanted... plus.
It was our best Christmas ever and the last one for Patti, so sad. Patti was 13 and Jamie was 12.

FOREVER

I may be invisible to your sight
But I'm forever here
You may not hear me speak
But I'm forever whispering in your ear
You may not feel my touch
But I'm forever by your side
You may not feel my presence
But I'm forever going to remind you
my soul has NOT died
You may not see my face
But I'm forever smiling at you
You may not know I'm there
But I'm forever watching what you do
I may not breathe the same air
But I'm forever holding you
And though I can not be seen
I'm forever, like my love for you.
Author unknown

Patti again at Christmas 2001. A very happy girly girl on that day....

Patti is in blue here and Jamie is in red, again from Christmas 2001. They got so much that I don't remember... I think like 10 outfits each and maybe 35
or even 40 gifts each. I had gotten a huge promotion so I surprised them each with a new wardrobe. I am so glad that I was able to do this.....

Patti at 13 years old at Disney World in Florida, March 2002.

Patti again at Disney World, this time with Alice in Wonderland.

WE DO NOT NEED A SPECIAL DAY
We do not need a special day
To bring you to our minds.
The days we do not think of you
Are very hard to find.

Each morning when we awake,
We know that you are gone.
And no one knows the heart ache
As we try to carry on.

Our hearts still ache with sadness
And secret tears still flow.
What it meant to lose you
No one will ever know.

Our thoughts are always with you,
Your place no one can fill.
In life we loved you dearly;
In death we love you still.

There will always be a heartache,
And often a silent tear.
But always a precious memory
Of the days when you were here.

If tears could make a staircase,
And heartaches make a lane,
We'd walk the path to heaven
And bring you home again.

We hold you close within our hearts;
And there you will remain,
To walk with us throughout our lives
Until we meet again.

Our family chain is broken now,
And nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.
~ Written by Connie Dyer, BP/USA, Springfield, IL

"Surprise, I got you, girly girl!" This photo of Patti is from March 2002,
at our home in Spring Mountain, PA.

This is Patti with Jamie, again in March 2002, relaxing in the hot tub.

We could never forget your sparkling eyes
or the way you brightened each day
or your smile which is etched in our memories forever.
so your never far away?
could we ever forget those precious moments?
The answer, or course, is never
For you were part of our lives for a brief time
But you'll be part of our hearts forever
~ Author unknown

This photo is Patti at our home in Spring Mountain in May 2002, a few weeks before the fire.
No, she is not high, but she sure looks it, ha ha!

My Princess Angel! Look how pretty she is, at 13 years old, in October 2001,
at our home in Spring Mountain.

The girls must have taken these photos while I was working. It was so weird to see Patti waving in the picture here, it was our last roll of film.
After the fire, my family was trying to sort our things, and they found the camera sitting on the counter...

"Life is not measured by how many breaths you take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."

Compassionate Friends Forrest Hills Cemetery with a place for our kids to have a stone made
and say what you want on it... this is known as Over The Rainbow Memorial Park.

Patti loved the song playing on here, "Wish You Were Here," it is about a couple breaking up and the man gets on a plane and the plane crashes,
but before he leaves he gets a postcard to mail it to his love. He mails it and she receives it a few days after he was killed
in the plane crash. It is such a teary song...