Patty Gosdin

 

By Hilary Kraus 
Photography by Christian Lee

Patty Gosdin is glowing; her bright blue eyes have an added sparkle. The weekend is coming, and Patty can’t wait to play with her new toy, a zoom lens her husband bought for her Canon camera. She’s thinking about the images she’ll capture of ghost crabs, egrets and other wildlife and ocean scenes on Hilton Head Island. It’s pure joy for a woman who connects with nature on a deep level.

“Spending the time in the wild, you realize that there is so much more than little you, that you become so insignificant, and you are just part of the big picture,” Patty said. When asked to name her favorite place to hike and explore on Hilton Head, Patty diplomatically declined to disclose her “special spots,” and keep it within the family and a select few.

Family is her husband Nick Gosdin, who is equally wild about nature, their 14-year-old son Nathaniel and 13-year-old daughter Naomi. The teens have taken to the outdoors like bees to honey. Literally. “My daughter came home one day crying, saying, ‘Mommy they (other children) took a whole bees nest down. They put sticks in it.’ She is impacted by this. I tell her, ‘The only way they can save them (bees) is if they love them just like you,’” Patty said.

Patty feels the key to connecting with nature is through public awareness. Years ago, when she started working as a registered nurse at Hilton Head Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center, she remembers her co-workers making fun of her because she saved bugs. “If I see a spider or beetle, when I see them, I take them outside,” Patty said. “I was trying to do the right thing, what’s right for me.”

Spiders, for example, don’t need to be indoors, Patty said. “But the spider is super important to the outside, so you don’t get stung by the mosquito.” Patty’s influence rubbed off. Today, where she’s the director of nurses at the dermatology office, Patty said she’s seen co-workers catch and release bugs. However, she remains the top insect saver. “She’s very caring,” said Leslie Price, office administrative assistant. “She has this great big heart for people, animals, everything.”

Patty’s connection with nature began as a child in her native home of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, a mountain resort in the Bavaria Alps. When her German mother and American father immigrated to the United States in 1961, the couple left behind 2-month-old Patty and her 2-year-old brother. The children were raised by their maternal grandmother and great-grandmother. When the women’s health began to fail, 9-year-old Patty moved into a children’s home. A Lutheran minister and his wife later took her in, where her brother already was living.

“She was always outside, always doing something,” said Patty’s husband Nick, whom she met on Hilton Head in 1996. “Being outdoors was her escape ever since she was a kid. She would explore a lot outside. That’s where she was comfortable.”

The U.S. also provided a welcoming environment. An American citizen by birth because of her father, Patty’s first connection to this country was moving in with a family near Pittsburgh. After working odd jobs and perfecting her English, Patty’s path took her to Hilton Head in 1986.

“I loved it,” said Patty, who arrived on a Greyhound bus and lived here for two years. “It provided just what I needed, which is everything from the palm trees to the alligators to the stick-bugs to anything that was nature.” Following Hilton Head, Patty spent five years working in the equestrian field and relocating to some of the most breathtaking places in the U.S.—Colorado, southern Arizona, Lake Tahoe, Nev., and Palm Springs, Calif.

She returned to Germany and earned her nursing degree, before finding her way back to Hilton Head in 1996. Patty, 36 at the time, met Nick 10 days after returning here, and the two immediately clicked. They married 18 months later, and their children were born exactly 360 days apart from each other.

Kayaking and scuba diving are as much a part of the family’s activities as hiking. Some days, they’ll pack a picnic and kayak completely around Hilton Head Island. Nathaniel and Naomi became scuba divers at ages 11 and 10, respectively, and already have gone on 52 dives. “On one of the dives, we saw a 15-foot hammerhead,” said Patty, the tone in her voice filled with excitement. Spoken like a person whose appreciation for the outdoors could fill an ocean.

 

Up Close:

Pets: Two rescue dogs named Cranberry and Ginger Pie; a black cat named Moonlight; and a red boa snake named Willow.

Why a snake? Daughter Naomi chose a snake over a laptop. Where would you like to travel? “I would love to explore the Galapagos Islands and dive the surrounding Pacific Ocean with my wonderful husband and my two amazing and adventures teens.”

Upcoming family vacations: "We are taking our kids to Europe next year and for the first time, they are going to see the Alps.

Ocean or mountains? “I would have to say the ocean.”

What is it about the ocean? “The surface of the ocean is flat and has waves. When you go underneath the ocean, it is a spectacular miracle.