Norris said . . .

Norris is the girls grandfather, my ex-husbands father. He is a very quite man with little to say, ever.

When I first met Norris he was already married to his second wife, Ella. Ella, love her heart, never shut up. Which left me wondering if he was quite by nature or self-defense.

During the ten years I was married to their son, a common expression out of Ella's mouth was, "Norris said . . ." Everyone who knew the couple had to fight from laughting. Really? Norris said?

Ella used Norris as an instrument to make the words she was about to utter more important.

"Honey, you know I would never complain about what you wear.
But, Norris said you should dress up more when you come to work."

There is no way in HELL that man could have carried less about what I wore, or any of the other thousands of topics he supposedly commented on over the years. It was just Ella. Just their relationship.

Since Ella's death in January, I've been worried about Norris. His only child lives in CO. He's been all wrapped up in carring for Ella the last few years. No real friends. No job. No one to listen to constantly.

While in Brady this weekend I felt his loss deeper than I have since Ella's death.

I had to wonder if Norris would ever say anything again.