the gentle giant viking next door.
He is a neighbor I got to like and my appreciation of who he was grew as I got to know him. the stories he told were always entertaining. Sometimes, it was in self deprecation like the time he was rudely woken by the Oslo police as he laid sleeping on the steps of the "capitol" He said he and his friend had partied too much and just couldn't make it home. He said that the police just told them to go home and sleep it off. Other stories of going swimming in the summer time in the fjords. And can't forget about him telling tall tales to the neighborhood kids about all the different kinds of trolls. He even has a collection of troll dolls. This is Norwegian as one can possibly get.
Unfortunately, he went to a care facility in hopes of returning after the chemo/radiation this past summer. Early on, I drove him to his weekly radiation and the occasional chemo and consultation with the doctor. I would visit him at the care facility always happy to listen to his tales high, low and inbetween. Back in November, he was told the cancer was cured but still too weak to take care of himself at home so he resigned himself to staying at the facility. He had hoped to come home for Thanks Giving, it came and went. He then hoped to come home for Christmas taught me lot about Jul Glade... He still wasn't strong enough. So we took a small table top Christmas tree decorated with lights to him. He really enjoyed the simple things, the small things.
Just like Thanks Giving and Christmas, The New Year came and went. He said he felt awful and week ago Sunday, he was rushed back to ER and had to be intubated to drain his lung. The doctors found a tumor.
He is very liked by many of the neighbors and many of the kids just love him. He was a grade school teacher so he knew how to talk to them and entertain them. I went to each of the families that he cared and relayed to them of his condition. One of the families went and visited him today. The mother was devasted at his condition. She called his nephew and he in turn called the hospice and the nurse went to check on the viking. The nurse upped his morphine and repositioned him to make him feel bit more at ease. I found about it around 10:00PM Saturday.
We realize that his end is just days away and I know I will wake up when he passes away. I hope I can say my final good bye to him sometime on Sunday.
He was a gentle giant. A wonderful man with a big big heart. Kids loved him and so did the adults. I wish there were more men like him in this world.
Peace be with you Norman. You've touched the heart of many and we are all very grateful.
Shawn
