Patrick Baird and Lisa Steiding Win Cutest Couple Contest

Congratulations Patrick Baird and Lisa Steiding for winning Petaluma Patch's Cutest Couple contest. 

Lisa, 45, and Patrick, 31, met at a cystic fibrosis retreat August 2009. And even though he lives in Sacramento and she, in Petaluma, they’ve been pretty much inseparable since then.

“We hit it off and we continued to talk outside of there,” Patrick says. “Then we realized that our personalities are the same. We are both laid back and we like to joke.”

Except that battling cystic fibrosis is nothing to joke about. The genetic disease interrupts the body’s natural ability to dissolve mucus and results in frequent infections and, often, early death.

But this couple lucked out. Lisa received a double lung transplant five years ago and Patrick in 2009. Although both were in and out of hospitals prior to their transplants, today the couple is healthy and living a full life.

Patrick is an appraiser’s assistant and Lisa is a bookkeeper and the mom of two kids, ages 21 and 16. And they are frequently on the move, going to concerts, the beach or giving talks at local schools about the importance of organ donation. 

Go, Lisa and Patrick!

Runners up in our contest were "baby love birds" Ethan and Izzy with 19 votes and Sharon and Bill Medley with 16 votes.  Thanks all for playing and Happy Valentine's Day!