Thursday, 4:30 PM
Diane Patrick on the mend
By Lisa Wangsness, GLOBE STAFF
In her first public comments since Governor Deval Patrick announced last month that his wife was being treated for exhaustion and depression, Diane Patrick has written an open letter in which she says she is now on the mend. She said she planned to return to her law practice this week and that she would return to her duties as first lady "in due course."
Patrick’s illness began when she realized the stresses of public life would continue even after her husband’s nearly two-year campaign for governor ended, she wrote in the letter released Sunday.
As a "deeply private person," she wrote, she had been affected by the "exhilarating highs and stomach-churning lows" of her husband’s campaign.
"When the campaign was over, I expected life to settle down, at least a bit, and to regain some sense of normalcy," she wrote. "To my surprise, however, soon after the inauguration, I found myself aboard a new and different roller coaster. I was trying to balance my return to a full-time law practice with the unfamiliar demands of serving as First Lady -- all while living in a fishbowl.
"I now appreciate that I needed some time to rest and repair, to stand back and take full stock of what lay ahead for me, and to put it all in context," she continued. "I now have had some time to do just that."
The letter was posted on Deval Patrick’s political website, DevalPatrick.com, last night, two days after the governor told a Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting in Amherst that his wife "is stronger, better, and she’s hoping to go back to work next week," according to a report Saturday in the Springfield Republican.
Widely admired for her engaging demeanor and intelligence, Patrick, 55, was a strong presence in her husband’s campaign for governor.
After he won, she said she planned to be an active first lady, focusing on domestic violence and early education.
She said she also planned to continue full time in her job as a partner in the labor and employment department of the prominent Boston law firm Ropes & Gray. But after her husband took office, she was rarely seen at public events.
On March 10, the governor’s office announced that Diane Patrick was being treated for exhaustion and depression and that the governor would curtail his work schedule to spend more time with her.
The announcement came as the freshman governor, the state’s first African-American governor and the first Democrat to take the corner office in 16 years, came under fire for a series of missteps, including a call he placed to a large bank on behalf of the subprime lender Ameriquest.
He also was criticized for leasing an expensive Cadillac as his official vehicle and hiring a $72,000 assistant for his wife. The aide has since resigned.
The news that Governor Patrick planned to cut back his schedule because of his wife’s illness created confusion over what that would mean for the fledgling administration, and Patrick and his aides spent the next few days reassuring the public that he was still in charge and planned to continue being governor full time. Since then, the governor has consistently been a visible presence at the State House and beyond, and he also has attended some engagements before and after office hours, including the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in South Boston and a town meeting-style forum in Boston last month.
Asked last night how the news of Diane Patrick’s improved condition would affect her husband’s schedule, Joe Landolfi, a spokesman for the governor, said it would not because the governor never curtailed his hours.
"I think for those who have been paying attention, the governor’s schedule for the last month has not really changed, he’s been more than a full-time governor in every sense of the word," he said. "If anything, he’ll continue to work evenings and weekends, as he has for the last month."
Landolfi said neither Diane Patrick nor the governor was available for an interview Sunday because it was Easter and they were spending time with their family. The Patricks have two daughters, one a student at New York University and the other a student at St. Andrew’s School, a boarding school in Delaware.
In her letter, Diane Patrick also thanked the public for the "hundreds of letters, cards, books, and calls" she received, which she said "were like a balm. They helped me mend."
She said the public response also helped her realize that depression is a fairly common illness, so she was "not alone."
"I want to thank you again for your advice, comfort, and assurance that all would be well," she wrote. "I know it will be."
