Patti Jordan Bryan

Patti and Bob Bryan

I left Clinton just before high school, when my father was transferred to Columbus. I was heartbroken -- I loved Clinton, had just been elected cheerleader for the next year, and was madly in love with Dave Garriga. I learned to like Columbus and even got to be a cheerleader! With it being the 1960's, that was the peak for a Mississippi girl!

After graduation, I went to MSCW at my parent's insistence. I wanted to go to Ole Miss or Southern. I did go to Southern my sophomore year, but was injured in a car wreck and had to move back to Columbus to be close to the medical stuff. (Nothing serious, an injured knee that required two surgeries and lots of physical therapy -- but here I was back in Columbus, to my dismay).

I graduated in social work and journalism; then, married and moved to Michigan. I worked as a social worker and went to grad school to work on my MSW. Before I could finish, we moved to Savannah, and I was thrilled to get back to the South. Loved Savannah, too.

Moved to Charlotte for my ex's career. Had my daughter, Meredith Jordan Hoke, in 1979 and stayed home with her. Loved every second of that. Got a divorce after 13 years of a marriage that should never have happened -- no bad guys, just a mismatch.

I went into public relations. I had a journalism degree and a portfolio of bylines from free-lancing. I needed to make more money than a social worker made, and I really liked PR. I was in Houston for two years and hated it -- though I had a great job as Media Relations Director for the Texas Heart Institute and Dr. Denton Cooley, who did the first successful human heart transplant. I was working with the heart transplant program, which was a joy. I even got to watch a transplant operation and visit the patient the next morning with a PBS crew. She didn't want us to come in because she didn't have on make-up!

I moved back to Charlotte in 1988, and I was so overjoyed. I wept when I saw the "Peachoid", a ridiculous water tower in SC that is painted to look like a peach.

I opened an advertising agency for a SC firm. After only a few months, a friend introduced me to Bob Bryan, who is now my husband of 15 years. He is a partner in a large law firm here and practices technology and intellectual property law. He works too hard and wishes he could be in the woods or on the river all the time, instead. He is a wonderful man with a tender heart.

When we married, his daughter, Lisa, then 10, came to live with us. We got to raise both our daughters together, a rarity for a divorced Dad. We realize how lucky we are. Meredith and Lisa became friends right away, both very unhappy about their parents marrying. They liked the idea of being the only child of a single parent forever! They remain close, and we've managed to blend our family successfully, with lots of work and some time.

I quit working when we married -- we really needed me free to make a home for us. Once the girls were grown and gone, I took up painting and now sell my work through galleries in the Southeast. Certainly not getting rich off my art sales! But I love it, both the creative part and the marketing aspects of an art career. Bob built me a tiny little cottage that serves as my studio -- it's a wonderful space, and I love being out there.

Meredith lives in Charlotte and works as the assistant to the managing partner at a national accounting firm.

Lisa lives in Baltimore, where she is getting her Master's in Women's Studies. Her boyfriend, Frazier, is in law school there and hopes to come back to Charlotte to practice. We love that idea!

I am on the board of a child abuse prevention agency, The Family Center. I mostly do PR and special events for them. It is a cause that is dear to me, and I am always so touched by the stories of these children. We really make a difference in their lives and the lives of their families.

I've never "gotten over" Clinton; I still feel homesick for it. We passed through a couple of years ago, and I didn't recognize it!

I am so happy to be reconnected to CHS and the friends I had there -- memories are sweet still. I would love to hear from anyone who has a minute to sit down at the computer!

Bob & Patti with daughters

Meredith Hoke and Lisa Bryan