Patty recounts her relationship with Dede which started in the 1980's when Dede first moved to Jackson.

Dede was in charge of the largest spinal cord injury rehab facility in the state of Arizona when I walked into Good Sam Hospital in Phoenix for out patient PT. Her best friend Deborah was my PT but I kept my eyes on Dede and got to know her through the days and weeks of rehab from a below knee amputation due to a motorcycle accident in Jackson Hole. I was 29 at the time and didn't like the new me very much, but Dede only saw a young man with eyes for her. She helped me see that my injuries were nothing compared to the paraplegic and quadraplegic patients she worked on daily and soon we were dating and falling for each other.