We are honoring Father Patrick Tyrrell, a Gordon Training Instructor who has taught over 3,500 people (170 courses), including P.E.T., T.E.T., Be Your Best, Y.E.T. and L.E.T. Paddy, who is now 82 years old, has been an Instructor for 34 years, first in Ireland and for the past 20 years, in Chicago through Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Glenview, IL. He takes large groups of teenagers on camping trips and teaches them I-Messages and Active Listening—he says they keep him young.
He is like family to us here. He has a warm and delightful (and sometimes sarcastic) sense of humor, his Irish lilt when he laughs and teases us, his never-ending energy to teach the Gordon Model—he’s a humble powerhouse and an inspiration to us and the thousands of people he’s trained.
He just called Gordon Training yesterday to order materials for his upcoming P.E.T. course (which he will teach with fellow P.E.T. Instructor, Peggy Nichols).
Paddy is a prime example of the difference that one person can make.
Here’s a limerick to express our affection and admiration for you, dearest Paddy:
Father Paddy is one of a kind
A better man you cannot find
You’re loving and giving
And also forgiving
And oh what a brilliant mind.
You hail from the Emerald Isle
Which gives you a special style
You have charm and wit
And you laugh quite a bit
But you’re also easy to rile.
You teach both women and men
And lots of kids over ten
They learn how to fulfill
Their needs with some skill
And just how to practice win-win.
So many times in the past
You’ve said each class is your last
But although you’re past 80
You’re still at Our Lady
Your belief in love is so vast.
To know you is a real pleasure
And your value impossible to measure
And I have been told
That God broke the mold
Your essence is something to treasure.
To Paddy who is so dear
Your next PET class will soon be here
And the parents are lucky
That you’re still so plucky
Which gives us a reason to cheer!