They had married in 1975, long before Patrick became a household name. Lisa, a trained dancer with discipline and quiet strength, had supported him through years of auditions and rejections. By the time “Dirty Dancing” exploded in 1987, bringing Patrick global stardom, the cracks in their relationship had already begun to show. Fame had a way of intensifying the pressure. Late nights, media scrutiny, fan attention, and Patrick’s growing reliance on alcohol became daily challenges. Lisa, who had stood by him through career disappointments, found herself growing more distant as he withdrew into the spotlight.

She didn’t leave with anger. It was sorrow. A need to breathe. Patrick was devastated. In private, he admitted to friends that losing Lisa felt worse than losing any role. He began writing her letters. One every day. Long, handwritten pages full of apologies, memories, and promises. He mailed them to her, even though they lived only a few miles apart in Los Angeles. Some were confessions of regret. Others were filled with anecdotes from their early years, how he remembered the scent of her perfume in rehearsal halls, or the way she would laugh when he nervously practiced lines at home. Lisa read every one.

Weeks passed. Then a month. Patrick knew he had to do more. One afternoon, he learned Lisa would be at a ballet class she occasionally taught. He drove to the studio, holding a bouquet of lilies, her favorite. He waited quietly at the door until the class ended. When she stepped out, their eyes met for the first time in weeks. He didn’t speak at first. His eyes were red, and his hands trembled as he offered her the flowers. “I’ll do anything,” he whispered. “Anything to make us right again.”

That moment changed everything. Lisa didn’t speak. She hugged him. And she came home that night.

Healing wasn’t instant. Patrick began therapy and started taking sobriety seriously. Lisa stood by him, not as someone who had forgotten the pain, but as someone who believed in his fight to become better. The following year, he told People magazine, “We’ve been through some incredibly hard times. But love isn’t about never hurting each other. It’s about fighting like hell to make it right when you do.”

They never spoke in detail publicly about that separation, but their closeness afterward told its own story. They started writing scripts together. In 2003, Lisa directed a film titled “One Last Dance,” which they co-wrote and starred in, a love story between two dancers trying to heal emotionally. It mirrored their own journey in subtle ways.

Their bond only deepened during Patrick’s final years. When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008, Lisa became his full-time caregiver. She was at every doctor’s appointment, managed his medications, and shielded him from invasive press. She said in an interview with “The Times,” “He was never alone. Not one night. I slept beside him every single night through the entire illness.”

Patrick passed away on September 14, 2009, with Lisa by his side, holding his hand. She later revealed that during his final days, he would often call her “my girl” and whisper how grateful he was that she never gave up on him. What held them together was never perfection, but a raw, tireless effort to choose each other over and over again, even when it was hardest.