Farewell, Norman

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Tonight i got the terrible news that my friend, Norman has passed on. He and i were friends only at the casino, but he was a sweet guy and i really cared for him. Norman had a lot of health issues. He was born with heart and lung problems. He suffered a stroke when he was 4 that nearly killed him and caused him to have a lot of other problems. He was wheelchair bound and on oxygen and was limited on function (including brain function). He was not on enough oxygen. Every time i saw him, he was purpe and his eyes were bugged out. He was on a portable liquid oxygen machine, and it was always frozen over because of the amounts of oxygen he was on, but it was not enough. He and i started talking becuase i am also on oxygen and, at the time of our meeting, was also wheelchair bound. (i am now using a walker) He liked to have someone to talk to who understood. The horrible thing was, his mother was not taking proper care of him. She knew he wasn't getting enough air. How coud she not? She would go to the casino and play her slots and not even pay much attention to him. He usually just sat there and watched her play as she rarely even gave him money to play as well. He was always relieved when Kathy (one of the slot attendants) or i would go talk to him. Many times, his oxygen would run out and his mother would still be there playing aaway at her slots. Then they would have to drive an hour to get back home. i don't know if there was more oxygen in the car, but i sure hope so. He was such a sweet guy. He was only 26. He (fortunately) passed in his sleep, so it is likely that it was a peaceful death. The last time he was at the casino, he told Kathy that he had recently had some tests and the doctor said the results were really bad. He didn't know much about them (he really didn't know much about his own condition), but the doctor told him it was really bad. He told her that it was too exhausting to even stand to urinate, so he had to have someone hold him up. i have been there, i know how humiliating that is. Poor Norman. nyhow, Kathy got called away to do something, so she told Norman she would get back to him. She got really busy and then he seemed really into the game he was playing and then when Kathy went to look for him again, they were already gone. That was the last time they spoke. Norman died on June 25th, but Kathy and the rest of the people at the casino didn't find out until July 4th. It really disgusts me that his mother was even at the casino celebrating so soon after losing her child. Farewell, my dear Norman. i hope now you are at peace.