Birth Date: August 26
Likes: Reading, coffee breaks with friends, doing arts and crafts with her kids, gardening, good books, good movies, good live theatre, laughter, cooking, leisurely soaks in the bathtub (not necessarily in that order!)
Dislikes: Bathroom scales, never-ending laundry, unreliable people, litterers, fighting and all that's "unfair"
Hobbies: Sewing, writing, reading, jogging, gardening, and writing letters to friends and family.
Aspirations: Get back into writing as a career and find a balance between life outside the house and inside! To raise her kids as happy, well-balanced and responsible citizens of planet Earth. To keep in touch with old friends. To keep family photos up to date.
About Elly: Elly Patterson juggles the daily duties of being a dedicated mom and wife and a willing ear to friends. While sometimes wishing for nothing more than a few quiet minutes to herself, she thrives on being involved and active. We are endeared to her as she demonstrates, in her humorous way, that it's okay to be human while juggling life's demands - even when your Super Woman t-shirt is in the laundry! Never losing sight of what's important, Elly always makes time to sit and chat over a steaming coffee with a friends, sharing the losses and victories on the battlefield of life. Elly is the cornerstone of the Patterson family and it is her philosophy, her interactions with the other characters and her ability to keep things running (even if not always smoothly). around whom the story revolves.
Elly's Early Life: Elly Richards was born and raised in Vancouver with her younger brother, Phil. After high school, she followed her life-long ambition of becoming a writer and made a giant leap of faith by moving across the country to Toronto to attend university. Not knowing the city, or anyone in it, she accepted the challenge of finding her place and her independence, and succeeded in both. She made a network of friends at the University of Toronto, including her best bud, Connie, and had the Toronto transit system down pat in no time!
Meeting John and Leaving School: It was in a campus library where she met John Patterson, snoozing away in her familiar study nook. He was funny, witty and charming (once awake) and she felt instantly comfortable with him. The fact that he offered her free dental work was a bonus! After a year of serious dating, he proposed. They were married the next February and settled happily into a small basement bachelor apartment. Elly's interest in her degree was fading by this time and she wanted to get out and WRITE! She left university early to work in a bookstore and do some freelance writing while John finished up his dentistry training.
Elly, Expecting: Once academia was behind them, John and Elly moved to a 2-bedroom apartment outside of Toronto and continued developing their careers...and, as it happened, their family! Elly was 24 when she found herself unexpectedly, but joyfully, pregnant!
Michael's Arrival: Michael was born to his excited parents on April 28, 1976, a healthy baby with healthy lungs. They stayed in the "cozy" apartment until Michael was 4 and gaining steam as an energetic kid. Thoughts were also percolating about having another baby. By then, enough money had been saved from John's dental practice for a down-payment on a house and Connie had the perfect one in mind, right across the street from her place in suburban Toronto.
Moving to Milborough, Awaiting Elizabeth: They moved into the house on Sharon Park Drive just a few months before their daughter Elizabeth was born. Elly was thrilled to have the extra space inside and out for her family to grow, and a good friend just a coffee cup's throw away.
April's Arrival: Just when Elly thought she was finished with diapers and baby talk, little April made her appearance in the life of the Patterson family. Elly is in love with her surprise youngest child, and is excited to raise her third with all the humour and love she's shown her other kids.
