Closer USA – August 26, 2019

have to leave. I can’t sit hereand

watch you die.’ ”

But she didn’t go far.“Iwas

over there every day, andIstill

loved him,” says Lisa. Ultimately,a

therapist was able to bringthecoupleback

together. “Things went fromhorribleto the

best they’d ever been,” Lisa says. “We finally

gained the wisdom to have what we wanted.”

ONE LAST DANCE

Patrick and Lisa’s newfound happiness

didn’t last long, but she’s grateful they rec-

onciled before he was diagnosed. “If things

were bad and I had stayed with him after we

found out, he would’ve thought I was pitying

him,” Lisa says. “Whereas, when he went to

face that cancer, he knew I was there be-

cause I loved him so much.”

He fought the disease with trademark

grit, refusing painkillers and filming a

TV show, The Beast, in a freezing Chica-

go winter. “We didn’t talk about death,”

says Lisa. “We were too busy living.”

In May of 2008, Patrick and Lisa re-

newed their vows on their 33rd anniver-

sary in lavishly romantic fashion. “We

did it very Prince Charming and Snow

White,” he said. “I rode in on a white

stallion.” Gushes Lisa, “It was like a fairy

tale. One of the happiest days ever.”

But Patrick was losing weight rapidly,

as the cancer spread from his pancreas to

his liver and lungs. “It was sad to see him

physically dwindle,” says C. Thomas, who

notes that on the Outsiders set, “Patrick

was so strong — he’d put Rob Lowe on his

shoulders, and me on Rob’s shoulders and

walk around the park. To see him fade away

in a wheelchair was heartbreaking.”

Eventually, Patrick was confined to his

bed. Still, “there was peace at the end,” says

Lisa. “He had been fighting for his life until

he couldn’t fight any longer.”

Patrick’s final words to Lisa were, “I love

you.” After his last breath, “I knew he was

in a better place,” she says. “He’d used ev-

ery ounce of that body. It was holding him

down, and he needed to leave it behind.”

Thankfully, he also left behind indelible

memories for his family, friends andfans.

“I still feel him here,” says Lisa. “I feellike

he hasn’t left. I can feel every contourof his

hand in mine.” — Reporting by Lexi Ciccone

Patr ick ’s^

Family Album:

On- and

“He was like a big

brother to me,” says

C. Thomas Howell of

Patrick, with him in

1983’s The Outsiders and

at a 2005 reunion.

“It sounds corny, but I grew

up with a superhero in my

family,” says Don of Patrick

(in ’87). “You couldn’t deny

his natural charisma.”

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