‘Shoes’ left his mark in our lives

Heather Alexis-Martin remembers her father, Patrick Alexis, who died

His given name, ‘Patrick Alexis’. Aka ‘Patrick’, ‘Pat’, ‘Patos’, ‘Uncle Pat’, ‘Sporting Sam’; or as I recently heard ‘The Happy Man’ or simply ‘Daddy’. Fabian and I always called him ‘Shoes’ (so we could ‘bad talk’ him in front his face without his even knowing). That name came from learning Spanish on Sesame Street, that ‘zapatos’ means ‘shoes’ so Patos. . .Zapatos = Shoes. Who knew you how to refer to your father.

Shoes was a great father and provider and as children we were never in need of anything. I remember he was the treasurer for Rosary Boys’ School and St Rose’s Girls’, even long after Heather and all of us left our primary schools. He just loved to help and took pride in all he did.

I recall how I learnt to peel an orange. Heather was playing Kiddies Carnival and Shoes decided to contribute a large crocus bag of oranges for the children while they were on the road for rehydration. . .. Well guess who had to peel them! I
could only imagine my older self with a degree as an ‘Orange Peeler’.

Fabian and I can also say that neither of us ever heard Shoes raise his voice towards mummy; which was and is one of the excellent tools in treating your loved ones. Who would have thought that the things Shoes did and did not do could have left a lasting impression and be treated as life lessons.

Things were not always the best but Shoes made it work. Shoes was a salesman from as long as I can remember and with the ‘gift of gab’ he managed to capture titles like ‘Salesman of the Month’ and ‘Salesman of the Year’, again a testimony to his pride in what he did.

Shoes has always been a sports fanatic and despite being a little vertically challenged, he was still considered one of the fastest players on the field whether football or cricket. It was expected that he would somehow become a part of Any Howers and Harvard’s Sports Club where he ultimately continued his passion for football by coaching the upcoming Peles of the world. Some may not know this but Shoes loved his history and to challenge him on this topic would be an
exercise in futility.

Mummy, I know falling in love is hard and staying in love is harder and it will be remiss of me not to applaud your part in keeping our family together. You and Shoes did an excellent job and I know you will continue to thrive.