farewell Miss Patty

Miss Patty, and her sister Jane, were close friends and classmates of my grandmother. They lived next door to each other and across the street from my grandmother—where Mom grew up—over on Forest Park Avenue. They were wonderful women who played with and cared for mom when she was growing up. Miss Patty was very active in her church and cared for the three-year olds for the past 60 years, and played with us when we were growing up too. My brothers and I considered Miss Patty and Miss Jane "the aunts." Miss Patty was a close friend to FOUR GENERATIONS of my family and was just all around awesome. She passed away this week at 96. She was a pioneer of women's athletics and physical education, and was still coaching tennis almost to the end. Again, at ninety-freakin-six.

She was always Miss Patty. She was Miss Patty when Mom was a little girl, and so she struck me as some sort of external figure. It never occurred to me that she was mortal. I love that my mother—herself a woman with three grandchildren including one in college and sometimes called "Miss Fran"—until recently still had a mentor in her life she would refer to with the respected elder title of "Miss."

Thinking of Miss Patty makes me feel the heat and humidity of a southern summer and the smell of grass while chasing fireflies in her front yard.

She is survived by her sister Jane, and a legion of women—young and mature—who consider her a mentor and heroine.

By the way, Miss Jane still water skis. At 94. LOVE these women.

From the Tennessean: Harpeth Hall's Patty Chadwell blazed trail for girls' physical education

My brothers and I have received some notes asking how we knew Miss Patty. I had forgotten that most of my female friends knew her and respected her as the tennis and PE coach at Harpeth Hall (the girls' prep school) for, well, ever. Brother Jay writes, "She and her sister were really good friends and neighbors to my grandparents on Forest Park. They lived next door to each other and across the street from my grandmother and grandfathers 1 and 2. My grandparents had a crew over there like Sheppard place does. So the three of us grew up going over there when we were little and fondly remember homemade ice cream parties, Halloween, and Christmas Caroling (one of them played the accordion)."

Man, I still remember that ice cream. And Christmases over there. And my first memories of trick-or-treating.