A Cool Bruce Lee and Sharon Tribute, Sharon Web Mentions and a Look Back at Patti Tate

Here is a really cool new video of Bruce Lee and Sharon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFxBwNPTKZQ

Here are some Sharon mentions on the web for today:

http://www.ftape.com/media/?p=12634

And this one...but watch for colorful language! :

http://crazycannon.blogspot.com/2010/09/sharon-tate-january-24-1943-august-9.html?zx=b0ad5a774a5ed7ea

Here is a great look back at the lovely little sister of Sharon, Patti Tate:

And here is an old letter she wrote some years back (dated January 29, 1999) :

Hi there!

Thanks for coming to my site and wanting to know a bit more about me. As you know by now, I am Patricia Tate, known as "Patti" to my family and friends.

Many people already do know much about me and my life's circumstances. I would like to be a much more private person, but that's not what life handed me.

My father is Colonel Paul Tate and my Mom, now deceased, was Doris Tate, and they were originally from Houston, Texas. We were an Army family and were moved around the world quite a bit. We lived for awhile in Verona, Italy when I was really young. I was the baby of the family, Debbie is 5 years older and Sharon was 15 years older than me.

The only thing I feel like saying right now regarding Sharon is that most people don't realize that she was only a famous movie star for the last two and a half years of her life. I do have my own fond memories of her that I would like to remain private. It just kind of bugs me that the thing she seems most known for is her death. Is it really necessary for me to say how painful the whole thing was? Just put yourself in my shoes, how would you feel, and how would something like that affect your family?

My mother was of course, completely devastated. It took her a few years to deal with it and when she came to, she took it on with a major vengeance and became a leading Victims Rights Advocate. She fought with everything she had until the day that she died. There were times when I didn't feel like she was completely there for me, as she was so consumed by what she had to do to get laws changed and other related activities. But I took solace in the notion that if something like that had happened to me, she would fight to the end for me, too. Being a mother myself, I can now relate to where she was coming from.

In 1978, I married Don Ford, who at that time played in the NBA for the Lakers. We separated in 1992, of "irreconcilable differences". But three good things came out of our union, our children.

I have been busy these past seven years since Mom died, and Don and I split up, raising my kids and getting back into the work force. I am glad I was able to stay home with them while they were all young.

In the late winter of 1997, I felt a lump in my breast and had it biopsied, and was terrified to learn that that it was already Stage II Breast Cancer. I had a partial mastectomy and they gave me really strong chemotherapy which put it into remission by July 1997. The chemo was hell. It made my hair fall out and I thought I looked like a martian. It made me sick to my stomach and made me crazy in my head. I really thought I was going nuts! Thank God, I had family and friends to watch out for me and the kids, 'cause boy, oh boy, it was a really rough time.

I stayed in remission for over a year and went in for frequent check ups. The news was not so good in the in the fall of 1998. The cancer was back at Stage IV and had spread to my lymph system. It settled in my lungs and that's where it is. It's metastacized, like cotton candy. Breathing is a bit of a chore now. I have to be careful.

When I first told Robin the cancer was back, I told her what the Doctors had told me. There was nothing I could do and she set about making this site to get some good prayers and positive energy going. Well, two weeks ago I flew to Duke Medical University in North Carolina to hopefully be chosen to participate in the new breast cancer vaccine they're experimenting with. They didn't accept me, but what did they say was "Go home, get on some strong chemo, get the cancer into remission and come back in three months".

So that's the plan right now. I'm back on the chemo and trying to boost my immune system.

As a Christian, I believe in the power of prayer. Please pray for me and let God's will be done.



I would like to wish the very best to Patti's children and other family members.  May this wonderful lady Rest in peace.