Steve Parrish, of Boulder Colorado, is learning to live life as a grieving father. And he’s driven to honor his son’s memory.
Less than four months ago, University of Colorado junior David Parrish was fatally shot in Puerto Vallarta while trying to protect his mother from robbers.
“As a bereaved parent, our biggest challenge is to keep the memory alive,” said Steve Parrish, who talked publicly for the first time Friday about losing his son. “You are driven by the loss of a child and wanting to do right and something in their memory.”
Steve Parrish and his daughter have been working with Soles4Souls to create flip-flops in David’s memory. For every pair of the sandals sold on the company’s Web site at www.soles4souls.org, two pairs of shoes will be sent to Africa for people in need.
“He would be smiling, absolutely,” Parrish said. “Yes, he would be glowing. I can see the look on his face.”
The idea to donate shoes to the shoeless overseas grew out of David’s enthusiasm both for unique footwear and traveling, his father said.
“He did have a passion for collecting unique shoes,” Parrish said. “I have six lifetime supplies of those things.”
When the time is right, Parrish said, he plans to donate them. In the meantime, he and his daughter are working with Soles4Souls on the flip-flop project that started after the company’s founder — touched by David’s story — contacted the family with the idea.
Lesley Parrish, David’s sister, has designed and spearheaded the development of the flip-flops, including the logo centered on the sole of the flip-flops — a setting sun over the Flatirons.
Before David died, he and his sister vowed to get matching Flatirons tattoos.
“Sadly,” Steve Parrish said, “that never happened.”
So, after David’s death, Lesley Parrish got the setting-sun tattoo and had a plaque of the image made for her brother’s headstone. Now, the picture will be touching soles worldwide.
“Lesley told me, ‘Before we started talking to (Soles4Souls), I would go to bed every night sad,’” Steve Parrish said. “‘Now I’m excited for the first time because I know what I’m doing.’”
A tag with David’s photo will be attached to each set of sandals, along with Soles4Souls’ mission statement. The shoes are being sent to Africa because his mother, Janet Graaff, is from South Africa, the family has deep roots on the continent and David studied abroad in Morocco.
Orders are being taken for the $10 shoes, and Steve Parrish said plenty of people already have claimed pairs — including friends in Europe and family members in Africa. Delivery will begin in late August or early September.
The project is a fitting memorial for David Parrish, who was mature beyond his years and, at a young age, became a sort of international good-will ambassador, his father said.
On March 26, the day David Parrish was killed, he was in Mexico with his mother. They had just bought a vacation home in the small fishing community of Sayulita, and they were in Puerto Vallarta looking for furniture when two strangers tried to rob Graaff.
The men had seen her pull money from a cash machine, watched the mother and son eat lunch and followed them to a furniture store. As Graaff walked to her car, the men approached and demanded her bag. When her son, who was still inside the store, saw the men pulling at Graaff’s bag, he ran outside and began fighting with the robbers.
One of them had a .38-caliber handgun and told the other man to shoot. He did, firing one shot into David Parrish’s stomach. They were less than 20 yards from a hospital, where David Parrish died.
Steve Parrish said he learned of the tragedy immediately.
The suspected robbers were arrested, but days later the accused killer — Alfonso Ramirez Sastre, 30 — posed as another inmate about to be released from jail and escaped. Mexican authorities launched a nationwide search, but Sastre still is missing.
“I am not going to spend $4 million to hire a posse to comb through Mexico,” Steve Parrish said. “But, yes, there is a sense of justice that I hope is achieved. But I will listen for it, not try to probe it and push it.”
Lynn Roche, a public affairs officer for the U.S. consulate, said Friday that the other suspect is still making his way through the legal system and has not been convicted in the homicide.
Steve Parrish said he doesn’t plan to visit the site of his son’s shooting at this point.
“David is dead,” he said, “and I need to say good-bye and honor his memory.”
Lesley Parrish is now in Mexico with her mother and some friends from Boulder. She might visit the place her brother was killed, her father said.
Parrish said his son’s bravery in the moment it counted has captured his admiration.
“You sit there and sometimes say, in various emergency situations, ‘How would I react?’” Steve Parrish said. “I’ve thought, ‘How would I have reacted?’ But, by golly, there is someone who knew and did react, and as a parent, I couldn’t be prouder.”
-The dailycamera
As a result of a matching fund-raising event held last month, shoe manufacturer See Kai Run will donate over 8,000 pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls.
E.L.M. SHOES, 3 Center Square, is hosting a shoe drive to benefit Soles4Souls. During the shoe drive, E.L.M. SHOES will be offering a 15 percent discount to all customers who bring in gently worn pairs of shoes toward the effort. The shoe drive runs through Aug. 30.
When Soles4Souls called Catholic Charities in New Orleans and offered 68,000 pairs of flip flops, it was not easy for them to picture the scope of that many shoes. Luckily, Second Harvest Food Bank offered their warehouse for storage, and helped them to distribute the shoes to those who needed them.
Bob's Stores, with thirty-four locations throughout the Northeast, has announced a charitable partnership with Soles4Souls.
St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 126th Street and Gray Road in Carmel, Indiana is collecting new and gently worn shoes for Soles4Souls.
There have been all kinds of treks across the United States. Many people have driven or biked it. Some have walked it. One man even went coast to coast on his lawnmower.
Volunteers and members of the Bellingham Bells in Washington collected over hundred pair of shoes for Soles4Souls during their "Beach Day" game last Sunday. They also passed out brochures and collected money to help with the shipping cost of the shoes.
Steve Parrish, of Boulder Colorado, is learning to live life as a grieving father. And he’s driven to honor his son’s memory.
Fans of the Bells baseball team in Bellingham, Washington will have a chance to 'step-up' by donating their new or gently worn shoes at Joe Martin Field during the game. The Bells Baseball Club will be having a "Beach Day" on Sunday, July 13th when they host the Corvallis Knights.
Dear Soles4Souls,
Hundreds of people in Miami-Dade County were waiting in long lines last Friday to receive a free hurricane ''starter kit'' in anticipation for the hurricane season. More than 100 volunteers handed out over 1,500 kits to South Miami-Dade's poor.
The Richmond Braves (the AAA affiliate to the Atlanta Braves) are teaming up with Saxon Shoes to launch a collection for new and gently used shoes to be donated to Soles4Souls. Any pair of new or gently used donated shoes may be dropped off at either The Diamond or the Saxon Shoes location in Short Pump now through August 7th. For every pair of shoes donated, the Braves will provide one general admission ticket to the game on August 7, 2008.