Birth Date: May 19, 1926
Likes: Cooking, spending time with friends and family, watching movies with Jim, looking at photos, going to auctions
Dislikes: Snowstorms, rap music, the color orange, phone solicitors and pork
Hobbies: Crocheting, quilting, reading mystery novels, dancing with Jim
Aspirations: To always keep a youthful spirit, to continue climbing the stairs once a day for exercise, to finally finish the quilt she started years ago!

It was Iris' smile that first attracted Jim. She was chatting with the ladies at the Legion. She looked over and smiled at him and he knew he would ask her to dance. And dance they did! After a few Wednesday night dances, they met for coffee and talked for hours. Iris' first husband, George Reid, was a Navy man. She met him in Halifax and he stole her heart, marrying her before he left for Europe. She waited four years for him, not knowing if he'd return, and when he did, she faced a stranger whose ring she wore. They had to fall in love all over again, which wasn't easy. They had three children. Two moved to Ontario and she did, too. She inherited lakeside property near Barrie and is particularly close to her daughter who lives there. George died of cancer in 1999. She had been alone since then, and then Jim happened!

Since Iris met, and married Jim, her life has purpose again. With her children grown and having families of their own, she never wanted to impose on them when she was lonely. Now she has someone to talk to each morning, someone to cook for (who enjoys her cooking immensely!), to watch movies with, someone to share her life. Iris knew it was rare to find love the first time, but to find it twice in a lifetime was miraculous.

Smiling comes so easily and naturally to her that sometimes Jim takes her good humor for granted. Then, he remembers, sad and lonely times, and her smile melts his heart all over again. After Jim had a stroke in 2006, Iris became Jim's doting caregiver - and the rest of the Patterson clan knows just how lucky they are to have Iris around to keep Jim smiling.