Pat's Charity Luncheon
- by Peta and Belinda
. . .sorry this became an Epic, so I've put it inside... Enjoy!. . .
Wednesday, 01-Dec-1999
by Peta
Bee and I (and about 200 others) enjoyed a lunch of Roast Beef Sirloin with herb scented
Baby Vegetables and Golden Roasted Cocktail Potatoes, followed by Mango Mousse with
Berries... freshly brewed coffee and yummy chocolates... all in the company of our Pat!
OK, so the food and wine was great (except that Bee doesn't like mushrooms & beef and
I didn't see her touch the berries either - what a naughty girl!!).
Well, following an inspiring video of Pat on the court mostly but a shot of him and his
Mum - the US Open win homecoming (this is a piece that you might have seen before - they
used it during the Aus Open last year I think - footage of the young Pat, Pat diving at
impossible to reach balls and making the shots, Pat winning the US Open etc) our Patrick
made his public speaking debut today... and we got to listen *sigh*!!
I have the whole thing taped and will no doubt get around to transcribing it sometime in
the future (no promises on when). He talked about his philosophy for life, he told us that
he goes through a positive visualisation exercise each night and also notes down positive
things that he has done and would like to do... he's just amazing! (you know what I
thought of when he was talking about this stuff? I thought of all you guys and all the
positive energy that you willingly give to Pat and anyone who needs it whenever it is
needed... I got that warm terrific feeling inside - thanks guys you all did that for me
today, you and Pat!)
He talked about his life, growing up, life on the challenger circuit, making it into the
top 100, US Open wins, etc.
He talked about the charity and thanked his Mum and Louise for all the work that they do
tirelessly 7 days a week 10 hours a day raising money for the less fortunate.
He said that whenever he gave a speech like this in the future he intended to finished
with a quote or lesson in life that he had learnt from one of the greatest people in the
world, his Mum. (everyone went aaaaawwwww and his Mum was crying, someone said Pat you
made your Mum cry, Pat said if she doesn't stop I'll be crying). In Asia in 92 when he had
lost in qualifying and was pretty down on himself... he was absolutely awestruck at seeing
Richard Krijacek close up for the first time as he passed him in a hotel lobby... Jocelyn
said to him "you are no different, no better than anyone else in this world, that guy
down there sweeping the street, yourself, Richard Krijacek... you came into this world
with nothing and you leave with nothing"
On to question time... (this was very brief, maybe 6 people either congratulated/thanked
Pat or asked a question - I hogged the mic and asked three questions!)
They said that this was only going to be brief so I quickly made my way to one of the
available microphones and was the second person to speak.
I told Pat that I was the one from Brisbane with the "Do it for Pat" banner (he
had a twinkle of recognition in his eye - maybe it was more like "ah that crazy
mob") and that I was representing hundreds of his fans on the Internet particularly
from Rafterbabble. I said I had heaps of questions to ask him but would just ask a couple
of them. How cheeky of me!!
First up I asked him if we could be expecting any commentary from him during the telecast
on the weekend... to which he answered that he hadn't been asked... everyone was much
surprised at that answer! He said that he would much prefer to watch it in the comfort of
his living room where he can jump up and down and curse to himself without a microphone in
his face.
Secondly I asked him if he was he was going to join in with the boys and shave his head if
they won... (everyone in the room went hysterical shouting out "no" and
"oooohhhh" at this stage!! heheee I know how to stir them up) Pat said that he
had a pretty ordinary shaped head so no... originally he had suggested that if they won
they should all go sky diving and that a few of the guys had said "NO WAY"... so
then he said to Lleyton what about shaving our head and Lleyton said "Yeah"...
Pat said he really wanted to see Lleyton with no hair and he had been prepared to
sacrifice his hair to see Lleyton like that!!
The guy officiating said I could ask one more question! So I said OK, everyone wants to
know what tournaments you have pencilled in for next year, are you going to play World
Team Cup/Rosmalen? Pat said that he would have to be taking it pretty easy leading up to
the Slams next year, not much doubles if any... I piped in no more doubles with Jonas and
Pat said no probably not, everyone was disappointed. He commented earlier that the 2000
Aus Open was really going to touch and go because the shoulder might not be up to 5-set
matches yet.
He thanked me very much for the questions and moved on the the next person!
Later in the afternoon as he was passing by us he stopped and asked Bee if she was feeling
better, see I told you this guy is just too sweet for words.
I made you wait this long to read that he wasn't dressed in black - as has been his usual
clothing of late... he had a white button up shirt and light beige pants on... you know I
didn't look at his shoes! and he was still as clean shaven as last week's appearance on
The Panel.
I would estimate that they raised about $10,000 in an auction of items signed by Pat,
there were shoes, a t-shirt, tennis racquet, bags, posters and the most amazing items were
2 boxes of 12 cricket balls all signed in gold pen by Pat... now you may ask why would be
Pat be signing cricket balls??? Apparently it is because no tennis balls are made in
Australia, however these cricket balls are and Pat is all into buying Australian!!
That's about all I can think of to tell you about the day for now... hope you've all
enjoyed my retelling!
Oh, one more thing... Louise mentioned that she had had some requests of whether it was
possible to donate money to Cherish the Children in $US and she said that they were
thrilled by this and happy to received any sort of money at all... again that was you guys
- way to go Shannon & Co!
Yes Louise too... I'll write a bit about her inside here >>>
Wednesday, 01-Dec-1999
by Peta
Lousie got up and spoke after Pat, she said she was going to speak about the foundation
and she did, but really I would say that her speech was largely about her inspiration for
the work she and Jocelyn do. To pass on hope and care to underpriveliged kids. She
revealed in another emotional moment in the afternoon that she has for many years suffered
from epilepsy and well she basically thanked Pat for saving her life. She said to Pat
something like, "thank you for being there when I really needed you - I wouldn't be
here without you".
I know we've all said it before, but this is one amazing family and it really is no wonder
that Patrick is the way he is.
More news from the lunch with Pat...
Tuesday, 07-Dec-1999
by Belinda
Sorry about this being so late guys, I haven't been on the net since this actually! I'm
sure Peta has reported on all the happening from the official part of the luncheon, so
I'll tell you a few things that happened after Peta left (I stayed on until nearly
everyone left!!!).
After all the official stuff ended, everyone was then given time to talk to Pat, get
photos and autographs (whether Pat liked it or not!). There seemed at one stage to be
hundreds of people crowding him, it must be so suffocating for him. it's times like these
you really must feel for Pat. A couple of the guys who worked there asked me if I wanted
my photo taken with Pat, but I sort of just said to them, "No, it's ok, I've had it
taken before". Some of you would probably think I'm crazy, but I can't be too greedy,
and let's face it, he must be getting sick of me!!! All I wanted was to have a quick word
with him, and maybe ask him to smile at me quickly so I could get a photo of him for
Robyn, seeing as she missed the occassion by being in France. But as it turned out, as Pat
was trying to make his way to the door, a guy sort of ushered him over towards me and next
thing I knew, I was getting my photo taken with him again!!! Anyway it gave me a chance to
actually talk to him for a second. He asked me if i was going to the Australian Open, and
I said, "Yep, but will you be there?" Having listened to him earlier say that he
had been asked to death about his shouler and his Aussie Open prospects, I was internally
kicking myself about these words which sprang from my mouth! What I meant was to ask him
that even if he wasn't playing, would he still be in Melbourne, it just didn't sound like
that!!! He sort of hummed and ahhed about my question and then aswered with, "I'll be
there in some way or another." I then came out with another masterful question,
"Will Newk be there as well?" To which I got a reply of, "Yep he will
be." Then Pat was gone! I tell you it was lucky you guys got Peta to ask the
questions because mine were so in depth!!!!
I waited around for a little while, because I really wanted to say hi to Pat's mum who is
really an incredible woman. I got my chance and we were talking for awhile. She told me
about how the clip we saw of Pat earlier in the day always makes her cry. She said,
"He looks so little doesn't he!!!" As she said this she had this big proud smile
on her face! She also said that she had been trying for ages to get a copy of the Tom
Jones song playing on the clip, but so far had no luck. So if anyone out there knows how
to get a copy of the Tom Jones song called "The boy from Nowhere" (I think
that's what it's called, it has those words in it anyway), could you please tell us here,
and maybe there could be a way that we could get a copy for her. She eventually had to go
because they were catching a plane back to Brisbane that night. So I said goodbye and
wished her a good flight, and I was on my way. That was after Mrs. Rafter grabbed a worker
there to help me order a taxi! She truly is a remarkable woman!!!
That was what happened after the lunch. I also got to talk to Louise a couple of times
during the day too, and briefly to Dipper (a former AFL player, who used to be one of my
childhood heroes!!!).
I ended my day with the taxi drive from hell!!! It was 36 degrees here in Melbourne that
day, and this taxi had no airconditioning, and the man drove like he needed to be
somewhere else yesterday!!! I was so glad when I got home and was able to have a drink to
fight off the early signs of dehydration!!! But like I've said before, for Pat, anything
is worth going through!!!!
Belinda