The 37-year-old is a banquet worker at the five-star Umstead Hotel in Cary, the youngest of five children in a big Irish family, a college English major who, by his own admission, hadn't quite found his footing in his mid-20s.
But tucked under his arm on a recent afternoon in downtown Cary was something that tells a different story: a copy of his debut novel, The Last "I Love You."
The book has an origin rooted in love and loss -- and in a sister who always saw more in him than he saw in himself.
'She packed everything into it'
Danielle Richardson was Patrick's oldest sibling - nine years his elder, so much so that he jokes she was more like an aunt than a sister.
She was also a doctor at Duke Regional Hospital, where she worked nights and taught in the Department of Medicine.
"She lived a full 41 years," Patrick said. "Even though it's not too long of a life, she packed everything into it -- became a doctor, got married, had two kids, was beloved by her colleagues and her patients."
For all of Patrick's life, Danielle was the doting older sister. There are pictures of her, 9 years old, cradling her newborn baby brother.
A heart-to-heart at a wedding
In 2017, at a family wedding reception, Danielle pulled Patrick aside for a conversation he wasn't ready to have.
"She said to me, 'I'm worried about you. You're not living your best life. You have so much more potential in you,'" Patrick recalled.
He pushed back in the moment.
"I told her at the time, I said I don't want to talk about it right now," he said. "But that's always stuck in the back of my mind."
A rare disease, and a devastating loss
Throughout her life, Danielle had been quietly fighting a rare connective tissue disorder called Loeys-Dietz Syndrome. The condition attacked her heart, then her lungs - and in September 2021, it took her life. She was 41.
Patrick still remembers the morning he found out.
"My brother came over, knocked on the door. It's like 7 in the morning," he said. "He came in, and he said, 'Put the dogs in the back.' And I was like, what's going on? And he said, 'Danielle passed overnight.'"
'It's my answer to her'
Less than four years later, Patrick sat down and started writing.
"It's my answer to her -- going back to that discussion we had after the wedding," he said. "She wanted more for me. And I think this book is kind of like jumping into the deep end."
The Last "I Love You" follows two sisters, one of whom dies -- and gives the other a chance to go back and fix what happened. Patrick began writing in April 2025. The book was released last month, on his mother's birthday -- a deliberate choice he says left her speechless when he told her on the phone.
"This book is intense," Patrick said with a quiet laugh. "I took my shot with this book."
A tribute in the opening pages
Intense, yes -- but also deeply personal. The novel opens with a dedication written in Danielle's memory. Patrick read it aloud:
"I miss you as much as I love you endlessly. Here's to you and your name living on forever."
He's living up to a potential his sister saw long before he did.
"She was wise," Patrick said, smiling. "A wise, older sister."
And still -- years after her death - she's the one inspiring him forward.
The Last "I Love You" by Patrick Stapleton is available now. Patrick Stapleton lives in Cary.
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