AS I KNEW HIM. FELIX A SEYMOUR

discount viagra drugstore times;”>My first experience  with Felix was in 1970, cialis usa sovaldi at the Nassau Beach Hotel, where he was the Personal Director. He was Frank Crothers head honcho and was the Master off the plantation, he reflected  a stark no-nonsense attitude when it came to work, who called a spade a spade, and very fair, and human in his dealings. His commitment to his God, & family were resolute, he held very strong views on education. He was the proud father to his children who he made certain, & boasted of their success in obtaining a first class education, and they all made him proud, today, they are all making a valuable contribution to the entire wider society. When I was offered a position by Luie Reynoso, at the Princess Towers as manager for one of the Restaurant in 1979. I had the pleasure of once again linking up with Felix, he being the Resident Manager at the time, and I must say, Felix was not your everyday josh, as so many of our Bahamian brothers in the past who took positions, for name only, without the full authority & benefits that comes with the position. Whatever  entitlement the foreigner got. Felix got, & exposed his children on living that abundant life. I learnt a lot from him in that regard. Our coming together again was a very comfortable one, and a cherished friendship developed as time went on, the political atmosphere at the hotel, with a few Taliban  diehards, was very volatile against those who did not support the oligarchy of the day, of which I, and Renea Newbold, James Deveaux, & Talmadge Pinder, who joined us later, were In the minority, my being a UBP/FNM, were known to all and sundry. Which was not popular to be, but we stood on our principles, so, my chronicle begun with Felix who was a strong supporter of the ruling party, but, being the professional that he was, he never let another’s political views bothered him, my recollections of Felix is overwhelming.  His intense fondness was rooted in him for his beloved. Cat Island, he, never losing, or forgetting his ancestral beginnings! He terminated me 3 times, giving no justification! I was able to tell whenever the powers of the day were coming to town. I would see Felix approaching the restaurant with that right shoulder twisted to the side; he would call me aside & tell me that I could take off, whatever period their stay was, with pay, of which I had no problem, until I mustered up the courage to question him about it. I guess I asked the “wrong questions?” that was my first termination. He told me later he was protecting my best interest. Something was amiss!

The second, came as I recall, I had to take action against a family member, he recanted my decision, and insisted that I was wrong, I tended to disagree with him on that, & I said to him it was ranked of nepotism, he looked at me and said, “NEPOTISM? you’re fired!   The third termination came when he unexpectedly came back to work one evening and couldn’t locate me and a staff member who he became very fond off her work ethic and deportment, when he did locate me he excoriated me like only F.A could do. He said Kelly, you’re up to no good! I then had to listen to the Song of Solomon about “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” that became his favorite mantra later on in his life. He then politely told me I was terminated. I told him on leaving. Thank you. I was back to work the next morning.  

Another recollection was when he heard that two staff members. One from the engineering department, a very genteel guy who have since departed, & a housekeeping personal was in one of the rooms, not carrying out their assignments, but enjoying creature comforts, using his master key, he caught them in an uncompromising position, he told that member from engineering you might as well finish, because you’re fired when you’re through!!!

Felix was very, very generous to his friends, a group who never found their pockets, who he entertained every evening at the Lobby Bar, who have gone on to their rewards, the wine of the day being Piesporter, many evenings, they drank out the stock at the bar, and we had to replenished from the store room, along with the finger foods of deluxe canapés, and hors d’ oeuvres, and assorted petit fois. Felix introduced them to the good life.

Also, one of my fondest memories, was when he went to collect his rent from one of his tenants, after a Sunday morning mass, who he told me was in arrears. The young lady opened the door holding her robe together, and according to Felix, she intentionally let the few dollars she was about to give him drop to the ground, and bent down to get the money, so there she was fully exposed. F. A. said he told her he only came for his rent, he’s not into the flesh, told her that he know a friend that may be interested. And ran away from there as fast as he could. I will never forget that blessed Sunday morning. I heard him outside my house shouting out my name, I let him in, and he requested water & more water, he then went into telling me about this ordeal “I never figured out who that friend was?” Every Christmas at the hotel. F.A. would get 2 cases of Pauli girl beer. And have his secretary. Mrs. Bain, carefully wrapped each bottle and will call in all the department heads and supervisors, and passed out a nicely wrapped bottle, with a handshake, and Merry Christmas from F.A.

In addition, & finally, he was in the Presidential suite when he overheard talk of an injustice from the powers that be during that era, here on a visit, and he rebuked such acts, and spoke out against it, and was told “my brother, you’re either with us or against us” his integrity & conscience would not allow him to be a part of such vindictiveness, he told me he was so horrified  & disappointed, he left that suite, and walked down  the ten flights of stairs to the main lobby, not believing how heartless the people he supported were, who he once had a close relationship with for many years as neighbors in Nassau. He shared with me on that occasion. That during his time as a teacher in Andros, how he gave up his bed to the  budding politician & upcoming leader at that time, he and his wife slept on the floor, his daughter. Debbie is the God child of that particular individual, after that incident  he was a broken man with his dignity intact. Shortly after he then parted with Princess, negotiating a generous package, including the car, he told me he was in such a hurry to get that check cleared he almost got in an accident, running the red light on the way to the bank. After a while, the powers that be felt that they had wronged him. After purchasing the. Lucayan Harbor Inn & Marina, he was made the General Manager, for a rundown 150 room nuclear waste dump, that was just sitting there, my visiting him occasionally he told me that he was only the security guard; he had no office, spending many days on the outside with only a chair in the parking lot, with his bottle of water. He then ventured into his own business that he fully funded, going against Nettie’s  advice, giving a piece of the action to some, who he thought were his friends, who left him holding the bag, suffering tremendous financial losses, and he felt that they hung him out to dry. He was deeply distressed. He shared that with me on my last visit with him.

Then came the 1990 Marco City by Election, the scales finally   removed from his eyes, he saw a new day, he then became a strong supporter of the Honorable. Hubert. An Ingraham, and the FNM, and the rest is history.

That was the fearless indomitable. F. A. As I Knew Him!!!

On my last visit with him. It reminded me so much of my own mother in her waning days before the lord called her home. “What is man?” it left me numb in seeing him, my realizing the end was near!!!

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace!!!