NORM!

“How’s it going, Norm?”

“It’s a dog eat dog world and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.”

Rough!

George Wendt, who played Norm on ‘Cheers’ was a friend that you saw every week.

‘Cheers’ was a ‘can’t miss’ show that made us laugh for years, and Norm might have been the best character - which is no small feat because they were all so well developed.

Norm worked as a character because we all knew of a guy like him - a guy who would rather sit with a beer at his favorite bar - more than anything else.

He always delivered a great line whenever he walked through the door, and his friendship with Cliff Clavin was also well-defined.

George Wendt was 76 and unfortunately he joins a long line of celebrities who have passed, or are within range.

Feels like childhood completely slipping away.

My Dad once told me about people getting older and passing away.

When Mickey Mantle died of liver troubles Dad kind of summed it all up by saying:

“When I hear Mick’s name I don’t picture him as a guy who got sick and died. I see him as I remember him best as a big, strong man who could fly around the bases.”

That made some sense.

“It’s how I’ll always remember him.”

When I think of Norm Peterson, I’ll always see him as I saw him each week:

At the bar, hand on a beer, and smiling.

Just a character in a television show, of course, but just another character from my childhood.

Milk bone underwear.

I still use that line.