Be Genuine- Like Norm Parker
I have been dying to write more about Norm Parker, since I
learned about his passing. My next three or four blogs will continue to be
about Norm. After watching a ton of video about Norm, reading articles and
reminiscing about the times I met him, it occurred to me how simple it was to
just love him to pieces. It’s because he was genuine. The real deal.
On the field, Norm earned respect of his players, opponents
and fellow coaches by giving respect first. I love this. However, the part I
love the most was the way he loved his son Jeff. He loved Jeff so much. Jeff
had down’s syndrome and that never mattered. Norm said this about Jeff “he is
my buddy”. If you ever saw Norm and Jeff together, it would just warm your
heart.
Matt Bowen is one of my favorite players from the past for a
lot of reasons. He just wrote an article about how Norm saved his life. Matt’s
son was born with down’s syndrome too and the most awesome part of the article
is how Norm said to Matt “You’ve just been delivered an angel from heaven”. You
should read Matt’s account, but my perspective on this is “AMEN”. All children
are gifts from god and we should cherish them every day.
Norm, you were a great coach and an even greater father. I
have been fortunate to have a successful career in business, and I can tell you
that my greatest career is being a father to my son. Sometimes I don’t know
what I did to get so lucky. Norm- you were an inspiration as a father and I
thank you for spreading it around and showing us the right way to do it. We
will miss you, but your legacy lives on. Go Hawks!
I pulled Norm’s quote from The Gazette’s story about Matt
Bowen, and it can be found here (you should really read it!):
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