Missy Patterson has been writing for the Pt. Reyes Light, a weekly newspaper in Pt. Reyes, California for about 30 years including during the time that publisher Dave Mitchell exposed the activities of Synanon for which they won a Pulitzer Price for Metitorious Public Service. The prize was for an expose of the Synanon cult, then headquartered in Marshall. (A reformed alcoholic, Charles Dederich, started the group in Santa Monica during 1958. Dederich had learned to hold an audience as a speaker for Alcoholics Anonymous, warning about Demon rum.) The Pulitzer Price elicited a visit by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales to St. Columba’s Episcopalian Church in Inverness on November 6, 2005.

With her children, Missy Patterson also owned and ran The Patterson House Bed & Breakfast in Inverness (now closed).

Point Reyes Light
April 15, 2010
Missy Patterson

To be grateful for All Things is my aim in life–yes, I said All Things!

It is easy to have a Thankful Heart for many of the Blessings we’ve received. Over a lifetime, that’s quite a number!

1. I am ever Grateful for my parents, who in their Innocence brought the five of us up to Value others and to be what one of my Daughters called Givers.
2. Living through both the Depression and World War II, we lived Normal Lives, enjoying school, making life-long friends, and at the same time knowing what was happening around us, both locally and worldwide. Every night at the Dinner Table we discussed the Events of Our Day — and, most especially, in the late 30s and early 40s the War.
3. That made us not only appreciate History and Government, it made us grateful to live in such a Wonderful Country. Knowing what has gone before is valuable — in your Personal History as well as that of the World.
4. I am grateful for all the Mistakes I’ve made. They say our mistakes are our best teachers, and I can certainly vouch for that.
5. I am grateful for my Marriage of 28 years. I’m grateful for all of those years, difficulit as they were. They were years of learning Patience, Compassion, Responsibility and Determination.
6. I am ever grateful for the Fruit of that Marriage: our Children. I’ve said many times, you don’t know if they’ll turn out Okay until they’re at least 30 years old and I’m very greateful that even under difficult circumstances, they are Good–not only Givers, but Successful People. They also give me a Great Sense of Joy, and they are now Good, no, Great Friends. Though I am not grateful for the death of my youngest son, I’m grateful for the 16 years with which he Blessed me, all of my Family and all those who knew him.
7. I am grateful for my almost 51 years of living in West Marin. At first it was the Beauty of the Area, but it didn’t take long to realize it was the People and no matter which Generation, they are the Staff of Life in West Marin.
8. And then, there is my Church, St. Columba’s in Inverness. Of course it is not Mine, it really is God’s Church. It has been a Haven over the years, certainly for me, and also for countless others. For the 48 years I’ve been a member, it’s never had a Large Congregation (in numbers that is–but it has always had Huge Hearts). It is more like a Loving Family. These friends are lifelong, no matter where they are.
9. And though there are a number of things that I am not Grateful for (like the DeCarli Billls that don’t come and accumulate according to them) at some point I will be Grateful (like when St. Columba’s can switch to McPhails). But those things are not in my Private Life, they’re organizational. Lastly–and this is personal–since I am always driving my convertible 4-wheeler, I do not consider rain to be a Blessing. But it does make me even more Grateful for Sunny Cloudless Days.