BOSTON (AP) – Gov. Deval Patrick’s wife, Diane Patrick, is slated Thursday to make her first official public appearances since the governor’s office revealed seven weeks ago that she was being treated for depression and exhaustion.
Patrick, 55, is scheduled to deliver a brief speech at a victims’ rights conference at the Statehouse sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance. Later Thursday, she plans to speak at a fundraising dinner for the Epiphany School, a private school for disadvantaged children in the Dorchester section of Boston. The First Lady serves on the school’s board of overseers, according to The Boston Globe.
On March 10, Gov. Deval Patrick announced that his wife was being treated for depression.
, though he did not release details of her illness or treatments.
The announcement came while the governor was under sharp criticism for a series of political missteps, including his purchase of pricey drapes and furnishings for his office and his hiring of a campaign supporter as a well-paid appointments secretary for his wife.
Diane Patrick shed some light on her condition in a letter released before her return to work earlier this month at the Boston law firm, Ropes & Gray, where she’s a partner.
She described herself as a “deeply private person” who experienced “exhilarating highs and stomach-churning lows” during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign.
“When the campaign was over, I expected life to settle down, at least a bit, and to regain some sense of normalcy,” she said in her letter. “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.”
AP-ES-04-21-07 1220EDT
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