I grew up on Belmark Street in southeast Houston in a neighborhood called Overbrook back in the nineteen fifties and sixties. We were a close knit community then. Many of us went to the same church and Catholic School, Mt. Carmel. People were relatively settled during that era so I generally had the same folks living around me from the time I was eight years old until I graduated from high school in 1966. Nonetheless I fondly remember a time when new family moved into a home one street over from ours.

The Hulin family immediately fascinated me because it was somewhat like my own in that it was not typical of the times. While I lived with a single parent mom, the Hulins lived with their father and grandmother. The two kids were Patrick and Sandy and to my delight they were close to me in age, in fact Pat or “Bud’ as his family called him was in the same grade as I was. My mom almost instantly became close to Pat and Sandy’s grandmother and so it wasn’t long before I was climbing the back fence to go visit the wonderful new people who had so pleasantly arrived in our little subdivision.

The Hulin family welcomed me with open arms and I felt so comfortable around them that I rather quickly developed little crush on Pat much like thirteen year olds are prone to do. He was a rather nice looking guy with a very sweet smile and a friendly nature. In the end however I decided that Pat might be better as a brother because I dreamed of his dad and my mom getting together and making us a family. I couldn’t think of anything nicer than having a fabulous brother like Pat and a real sister like Sandy. I even adored Pat’s grandmother so my fantasies included her as well.

I remember a summer just before my eighth grade year when Mr. Hulin took me swimming with Pat and Sandy at a club pool to which they belonged. When he learned that I was a nervous swimmer he worked patiently to help me improve my skills and Pat was my biggest cheerleader. Pat was literally the first young man my age around whom I felt totally at ease aside from my male cousins. He had a very calming presence and a way of making me feel relaxed and happy. I viewed him as a wonderful friend.

In the eighth grade Pat had a little romantic fling with one of my best mates. I was happy that they got together but I saw less and less of Pat after that. Once we both started high school our opportunities to get together seemed to be even more limited. We were all placed with a certain group of students who became somewhat like a small school within a school for all four years. I rarely had interactions with Pat during the academic day and once I got home I was always busy with studying.

Even though Pat and Sandy and the rest of their family were only a block away we slowly grew apart. I was too old to climb fences and never seemed to make the time to walk all the way around to the next block but I kept a very warm feeling about Pat in my heart because he and the Hulins had always been so hospitable and kind. Of course, I also set aside my fantasy that we would somehow become a family when I realized that my mom and Pat’s dad were not interested in being anything more than friends.

After high school I busied myself with new adventures at college. By the time I was nearing my twentieth birthday I had married my sweetheart Mike and moved away. I never heard much about Pat Hulin or his sister until the fiftieth reunion of my high school class of 1966. I saw Pat for the first time then and he was was as amiable as ever but not doing well health wise. I applauded his courage in dealing with the issues that were so obviously plaguing him but I worried because he appeared to be so unwell.

We only had a passing opportunity to greet each other. There was so much going on that night but I really wanted to know more about him and find out what he had been doing during all of those years that we had not seen each other. I still thought of what a wonderful brother he would have made but I knew it would have seemed silly to tell him so. Those were of course the fantastical dreams of a thirteen year old and not to be taken seriously so far down the road of life.

I’ve become Facebook friends with Pat’s sister Sandy over time and I have enjoyed seeing how well she is doing. It was with great sorrow that I recently read a post from her announcing that Pat had died. The tributes that members of our Class of ’66 have written all confirmed what I had always known about Pat Hulin. He was indeed a very sweet person and I believe a courageous one as well. I wish that the times were not so unusual because I would surely travel to participate in his funeral or memorial even though it would be in the next state over. It would be just like climbing the fence back when we were kids.

I have no doubt that Patrick Hulin is with the angels. He had earned his wings a long time ago when he was so gentlemanly and kind to a little girl who needed a good friend to be like a brother. I hope that he is enjoying his beautiful reward in heaven. He is someone who really deserves an eternity of happiness and good health.