Patrick skated in the US SOI in 2015. My friend and I always buy the brunch and the meet & greet and we never know who the skater is going to be. In 2014 it was Ashley and Gracie and I have to say that all the crap that people say about both ladies is total garbage. Neither could have been nicer, took many pictures, were very patient, and were lovely ladies. In 2015 Patrick and Polina were our skaters. Polina only lives a few miles from the SAP Center in San Jose where SOI was. There weren't as many people as usual and Patrick just kept talking to us. At that point he hadn't announced a decision to return to competitive skating but when directly asked he had that little bit of a smile. We left knowing he would compete again.
Another thing that happened.....there was a table in the dining area with about 6 young people that were clearly disabled in some way. Patrick kept looking over there and without anyone asking him he went over to the table, shook everyone's hands, took pictures, etc. They were thrilled.
We then went into the rink to watch warm-ups (part of our package) and there was a local synchronized team sitting in chairs lining one end of the rink. After Patrick went through his routine he went over, went down the line and shook hands with each one of those young skaters. I thought it was a class act and I bet those skaters (from ages very young to teenage) will never forget that.
I came away thinking Patrick was the ultimate professional, compassionate, and worthy of his titles not just because of skating.