Twenty-seven years ago, I saw a man across a crowded room. I knew he was there to do a talk about acting in Los Angeles, but I didn’t know anything else about him. I remember thinking, “I’m going to know that man someday.” There was something significant about our connection and it had nothing to do with acting or theater. He didn’t even know I was in the room.

At that time, I had a completely different life. My children were young adults, all out of the house, but I was married. I certainly didn’t think I would be leaving the relationship I had been in for 25 years, but something definitely shifted in me.

It wasn’t long after that I did begin to connect with Patrick. At first as my acting teacher, then as his employee, then as a friend and finally as my soulmate for the next step of my life here on Planet Earth. We would bond together not just as lovers and husband and wife, but as two people looking out beyond their love to a partnership in which we would endeavor to change the world. When we married, we promised each other we would always change, and we most definitely have and continue to do so. At first our partnership produced theater and workshops and assisted actors to be their best selves as we also created avenues for our own creative expression. However, something else was brewing…

Patrick introduced me to Centers for Spiritual Living. It took him awhile to get me to go to those “church” services, because I had sworn off churches due to a long and treacherous previous experience in a fundamental church. I finally relented to going with him to the Burbank Church of Religious Science, which would later become SpiritWorks. The moment I walked into that Center, my life shifted. Now we were on the Spiritual Path together, which culminated in becoming minsters and founding Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i.

What do I want to say about Patrick today on his 65th birthday. Well, first of all, I want to tell him how much I love him. I want to thank him for changing my life and encouraging me to be the best Rita ever. However, there is something else. Patrick, you are truly an inspiration, not just to me, but to so many. You walked a Camino del Santiago called your life, growing up in abuse, chaos and what would be to most of us a devastating and unrecoverable childhood. Instead, because of your innate ability to look for the good and your deep sense of finding hope where it was impossible to find it, you birthed a healer of your life and a being who acts as facilitator of healing for so many. You are magnificent!

What I know for you on this, your 65th birthday, is the beginning of what will be the most abundant, loving, health-filled next step in your life. I know only unlimited success. The path is clear for you to assist others, while shining your magnificent Spirit across the Globe.

I am so grateful to be witness to all of this and more. I am so grateful to be your wife, your friend, your lover, and your partner as you leap into the unknown and create the footsteps in the sand for all of us. I’m here to support you and your dream every step of the way!

Happy Birthday, to the Magnificent Patrick Feren!

Love and Aloha,

Rita

PS: The picture in this blog was taken on Sunday, April 30, 2023, as the Youth of CSL Kaua`i gave Patrick their rendition of a birthday gift – showing abundance on him in the form of 65 dollar bills. It was definitely a perfect moment. Thank you to Marian Head for capturing it.