Patrick and I were in Lily's lab from 2000 to 2006. When I met him, I was younger than the average postdoc in the lab and with a very poor level of English and even less confidence, I felt closer to the PhD students than the other postdocs. The alchemy of camaraderie worked right away with Patrick. When I discovered later how many friends he could gather, I quickly understood that the success of this friendship was mainly due to his character and his kindness and that he was one of those people that everyone can only love. Despite our strong interest in science, we were also strongly attracted to joking and the friendly atmosphere in the lab allowed us to do so often. As a result, I remember more laughter with Patrick than brainstorming on ion channels! If I had trouble understanding his English at first, I quickly understood his sense of humor. His always laughing face, his generosity and his emotionality as a proof of his emotional intelligence quickly made me feel confident and involved in little challenges like inserting hidden jokes in our group-meeting presentations.
The story I often tell about Patrick is when my husband, Frank, and I found him one day in a hallway at the University as a participant in a UCSF talent show. He was proudly standing in front of the painting he had made himself for the occasion (a very kitsch painting representing horses gambolling in a meadow). In front of our admiration and our congratulations, and surely a little embarrassed, he couldn't refrain from confiding to us that it was in reality a painting by numbers. It's this ambiguity and willingness to make people laugh with activities that might seem silly to certain that makes him so authentic and unique. His eccentricity is also illustrated by this photo of Patrick in a ping-pong outfit receiving a trophy from Lily's hands during a ping-pong contest organized in the lab.
I'm glad I kept some connection with Patrick through Facebook after we left San Francisco. Sharing a photo of his gigantic Christmas tree (with Mabel always in the foreground) every year is a perfect example of his desire to bring joy to his surroundi
ngs.
Patrick belongs to that category of people who, by their kindness and authenticity, mark their passage in our lives forever. For me, he is undeniably one of those who participated in the best moments I spent in San Francisco and I miss him when I think about this period of my life.