In 1982, he met Elizabeth Jean Anderson in Dhahran. She was a Spanish teacher, and one of his friends used to tease him about “taking Spanish lessons.” They were married in Bahrain in 1984, with only their best man (also the photographer) and maid of honor. About eight months later, they were remarried Stateside, complete with white wedding dress and tuxedos, dancing, and lots of friends and family. In Saudi Patrick took up scuba diving. He and Elizabeth dove the Red Sea off Jeddah, Saudi Arabia when there were no dive boats, just very difficult shore dives. From KSA they went on a camera safari to Kenya, trekked in Nepal, stayed on a houseboat in Kashmir, travelled around India for four weeks, and went to both Egypt and China with Alice, Elizabeth’s mother.
When Patrick and Elizabeth left Saudi Arabia in 1985, they embarked on six month trip abroad, ending with one month traveling in the U.S. They traveled with scuba gear and warm and hot weather clothes—and a lot of cameras equipment. Nothing was digital in those days, and Patrick was a keen photographer. They visited the Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Australia, the Philippines (five days after Marcos left), and spent a month in New Zealand. Lots of diving and some fishing along the way.
Eventually they made their way to their new home in Orlando. Orlando was a time of new experiences and old and new friends. Patrick started his own computer business and Elizabeth went into real estate. They entertained a lot, with an annual New Year’s Eve soiree complete with champagne, a sit down dinner, and dancing. They also continued diving in the Caymans, Cozumel, and Florida. A great part of being in Orlando was that Patrick got to see more of Jason and Jessica, who lived in Atlanta and often visited Florida. Sadly, Patrick’s son Jason lost his battle with muscular dystrophy in 1988.