OUR STORY
Patrick Smyth
Ann Pedtke
The year is 2006.
The place is Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
It was a simpler time.
Patrick and Ann were in the same English class. They both talked a lot, so they noticed each other.
Soon they were studying together, and having long conversations about utilitarian versus deontological ethics.
(Utilitarian is correct, by the way. Ann was totally wrong about that.)
In January 2007, New Orleans was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Because Ann likes to help out, and because Patrick had nothing better to do, both volunteered on a service trip to restore damaged homes in the Lower Ninth Ward.
Patrick impressed Ann by being able to hold a sledgehammer without his arms falling off. Ann demonstrated her amazing reserves of energy, which everyone already knew about, and her big heart, which everyone also already knew about. But they were nice to see.
Ann and Patrick decided they were pretty good at putting up with each other for long periods of time, so they also studied abroad together in England the following year.
After graduation, Patrick moved to Germany to teach English on a Fulbright Fellowship. Ann moved to Sunnyside, where Patrick grew up, and started working with the Student Conservation Association through AmeriCorps.
Despite knowing that long-distance relationships don't usually work out, Pat & Ann figured they were exceptional, and that the rules didn't apply to them. They were totally right, and stayed together.
Ann visiting Patrick in Berlin in 2010.
(Yes, we are fully grown adults in this picture.)
Time passed…
Ann shot up the cutthroat ranks of the nonprofit world, becoming, like, a director or something.
No one is really sure exactly what Patrick does, but it has something to do with computers? And teaching?
In 2019, Ann put a ring on it, making it official.
Since then…
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Ann won a bunch of fancy awards, including the President’s Volunteer Service Award and 40 Under 40: Rising Stars in Food Policy.
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Patrick finally collected his PhD in English after a really, really long time. Like, really long.
But the more things change…
…the more they stay the same.
