Norman
The best friend that I ever had, from my boyhood through late years;
Was my dear one they named Norman; I relate our history with some tears!
For he is no longer with us, he passed at fifty-two;
For years I begged him to quit smoking, I said “Norman, those cancer sticks will kill you”!
I met him at the pool one day; we were both just ten years old;
Our Fathers were also closest pals, my Dads’ Attorney, very bold!
I’m sure I was Normans’ only real close friend, for no one liked his ways;
But something clicked between us two, and we felt it that first day!
We lived about a mile apart, and after school we’d meet;
On Saturdays, we’d go downtown, to have some prime roast beef!
At age fourteen, I got a Zundapp Bella, and we scooted all over town;
When I was sixteen, I got a brand new Plymouth, that took us all around!
We often double dated; I remember one long weekend;
When we both went down to Louisville, for two nights there us to spend!
A friend of Norman’s Father, had a mansion all first class;
He also had a daughter; a very pretty lass!
We got there Friday evening, and this girl and her best friend;
Were waiting for our arrival, for the night together spend!
My blind date did not move me; her appearance got my goat;
But Normans’ so excited him, for he had his tongue way down her throat!
Norman did not finish high school, for books just weren’t his thing;
So my Dad got him a new gig in New York City, selling his company’s fine bling!
Just like Norman, I hated college, and stayed for just twelve weeks;
I came home to hustle billiards, and rich “pigeons” did I seek!
I broke up with my girlfriend, in the spring of sixty three;
I drove from Dayton to New York City, so my friend Norman I could see!
We partied hard all weekend; sucked face like it was air;
With girls from the “Big Apple”, who had long and sexy hair!
Soon Norman grew disenchanted, with living too far away;
So he quit and returned to Dayton, and searched for jobs that were well paid!
But a teenage high school dropout; is the bottom of employer’s lists;
So he decided he would serve his country, and in the Army did enlist!
His basic was at Fort Knox, the place with all our gold;
I drove down there to see him, and we partied like days of old!
Then he got his marching papers, to Stuttgart he would go;
I wrote him several letters, I really missed him so!
One day he got in trouble, got caught with “Mary Jane”;
The Army sought a Court Marshall, his Father hopped a plane!
He was like William Jennings Bryant, as he fought for his defense;
He arranged some sort of discharge; that got Norman off the fence!
He came home to sort his life out, then my Dad came to his rescue;
He said, “Norman, I need a strong assistant, and I think it should be you”!
By this time I was married, and ensconced in the Numismatic trade;
So I told my Father, please hire Norman, so his second choice he made!
He taught Norman all the trade tricks, and six months later got him a line;
So Norman could ply all my Father’s magic, to have the honey and the wine!
One time on an extended road trip, he went to Chicago for some R and R;
There he met his dear “Pal Joey”, a gorgeous little star!
She was a socialite from Skokie, whose parents were “high society”;
Their good friend was Henny Youngman, a comedian of notoriety!
They set a wedding date for the summer, in Chicago, the month July;
On a Sunday at The Blackstone, gowned women, men in tux and tie!Â
My friend and I were ushers, in  the wedding party crew;
We all got there on Tuesday, with lots of parties we had do!
For every night before the wedding, there would be a gala thrown;
With cocktails and fine dinners, such love, the Bride was shown!
They made their vows to be forever, they lasted just four years;
Oft times when we double dated, the night would end in Joey’s tears!
After that, my buddy Norman; decided to single stay;
He dated lots of cute chicks, but smoked more every day!
He lost his dear Father Melvin, who died at fifty four;
We all gathered for his funeral, to show our love for evermore!
Norman inherited lots of money, and moved to Texas, start anew;
Four years later I lost “my” Father, not yet age sixty two!
I called Norman and I told him, my Father had passed away;
He promised me he’d fly up, and be there the next day!
And then he really hurt me, he never even showed;
To honor the man who had helped him, and kindness him bestowed!
After that I never saw him, for I carried in me rage;
Years later, when I tried him contact, I pulled up his obituary page!
He had died with lungs of cancer, at the age of fifty two;
I’m writing you this tribute, to say, “Norman, I have forgiven you”!
Postscript
I know that my friend Norman had a daughter. I have tried for several years
to contact her, but have been unable to do so. I can tell her stories
 about her Father, that she would love to hear. If anyone can help me with this, I would greatly
appreciate it. His full name was Norman Jay Scott, and he was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1945.
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Comments
Hi Larry Although a little sad i enjoyedÂ
reading your poem about the times you had withÂ
your friend Norman, sorry for your lossÂ
you have great memories to keep of him
I hope you will be able to find his daughterÂ
that would be lovely for you
lovely write Love n hugs Debs xox
Hi Debs,
Thanks for your lovely message and kind comments. I still occasionally am reunited with him in dreams. One of them, three nights ago, was the harbinger of this poem.
Hugs, Peace and Love,
xox Larry
HI Larry love your story about your life and life can be fun and hard and painful as we go through life and we learn about life and the road we go down every ones life happens for a reason you have wounderful day peace and love to both you xxoo
Hi Greg,
Thank you. We all travel down different roads of life, but they all lead back to our vulnerable hearts.
Peace and Love,
xox Larry
My Larry,
This is just beautiful and clearly shows true friendship, both good and not so good too. I loved reading this because it brings me a little bit closer to the man I adore completely. The story is wonderful and the way you have put it together is superb, well done my darling.
I really do hope that one day you will find his daughter so that you can share with her the love that you shared with your best friend. That really would be quite special indeed. I`m so sorry that you have lost him but he has left you a whole mountain of wonderful memories to cherish and don`t ever forget that will you? His life is still influencing you even now, because you have been able to write such a loving and wonderful tribute to him and I feel sure that he will be proud of that fact.
You have certainly seen life together that`s for sure.
I love you
G xx
Hi Dear G.,
It is amazing that I can remember back over sixty years ago, times I shared with Norman, and they seem like just yesterday. Just before I got the idea to write this poem, I had a dream about the two of us, in which, he was young and very healthy. In it, I made some kind of a wise crack to him, then smiled and said "just joking", then gave him a "man kiss" on the cheek. I do have so many stories that I would love to share with his daughter, but Linda and I have been unable to locate her. I am sure she would be thrilled to hear them. Thank you for your beautiful understanding of how much his dear friendship meant to me.
Love Ya,
xox Larry
That dream was his way of saying that he`s ok now and happy again and that he`s still with you sweetie and that he understands how you felt when he didn`t come to your dads funeral and that he`s sorry that it upset you, maybe he didn`t want you to see how ill he was! We all react to serious illness in different ways when it comes to telling family and friends sweetie.
He wants you to feel better now because you have managed to forgive him now and that`s a great healer in itself for the soul and for the person that you`ve lost and that`s important to both of you.
My mother-in-law refused to come to Andrews funeral and she had no excuse because she wasn`t ill and Geoff was going to pick her up and take her back home even though she lives 70 miles away from us and our eldest daughter who lives all the way up in Scotland had to pass her house so she also offered to pick her up but she refused the offer and she upset me terribly and I still haven`t managed to forgive her, I don`t think I ever will.
Geoff`s no good at organizing things because he panics and he was too upset to do it so I organized my father-in-laws funeral for her and we even paid for it despite the fact that she is very wealthy, it was the year before I lost Andrew, she didn`t have to do a thing, I even cooked the buffet for all her guests and there were over a hundred people there for his funeral tea and we had to take all the food and drink that 70 miles all the way up to her and organize the venue too.
She has never even had the decency to say sorry or given me a reason, so I don`t talk to her about it because it just upsets me that she showed him no respect at all considering he was her eldest grandson and he adored her and used to visit every week and ring her every day to check that she was alright and when Alex was alive too. She`s just cold and heartless and it really hurts me that he was the only one that she treated that way and he was a lovely caring grandson. She never even sent a card or flowers when he died or visited Andrew in hospital or even sent a get well card and I`ll never forgive her for upsetting him when he was dying. So I know how hurt you were feeling because it will always hurt for me, but I`m proud of you that you have had the strength to forgive him for upsetting you sweetie because it is hard to do when it hurts so much.
I love you
Gxx
Oh, our dear G,
What you have described so far supersedes what Norman did, it is unbelievable. Before I start in on your Mother-in-law, I just want to tell you, that my Father died in 1977, at least a quarter century before Norman became ill. But, in spite of it, I have forgiven him. But on the other hand, this mother-in-law of yours, sounds like the daughter of Satan. If I were you, I would never set eyes upon her again and cast her out of my life forever. In America, we have a funny anecdote about the definition of mixed emotions. The answer is, "it is watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new car"! In your case, I would just like to see her go over a cliff on her own.  We love you, sweetie,
L & L
When Geoff has to visit her I always stay at home, he goes up there every week., in fact he`s there today all day and he rings her every day but I always escape out the way, I only go up when it`s her birthday or Christmas and I always play poorly if I can so that we can go home early!!! She`s a strange lady to try to understand really, she is nice to me and always has been, apart from her behavior when Andrew was ill and after. But I can`t get up the energy to forgive her even now after 7 years so I keep away as much as I can. I don`t like to cause arguments so I haven`t said anything to anyone about this except you. It`s helped me to talk about it, so thank you.
I love you
G xx