Patrick Donnelly is a gem of a human. Years ago, I was lucky enough to meet him through this little-known website called Twitter. He was leaving a company I was just starting at and we bonded over our mutual disdain for the place. How most friendships start, right?

From that very moment, he has been my biggest cheerleader. We've been on double dates -- his wife Kris is a spitfire with a heart of gold -- and his youngest daughter attends a summer theatre camp run by my sister and brother-in-law (that was a total accident and he only realized it when he met my sister at afternoon pick-up). 

In April, Patrick opened up about his own battle with mental illness. Depression. Anxiety. Something he has dealt with his entire life but didn't fully accept until shortly after the birth of his first daughter. He wrote an incredibly honest, blunt piece, 'Why men like me should talk openly about depression'.

We sat down over beers on a gorgeous summer night to just talk. About his experience, about his decision to 'air his dirty laundry', what happened afterward.