Norma

Dear Reader,

So much has happened this week.I plan to resume my postings on portrait painting next week but I feel passionately that I must share with you the impact Norma has had on my life.

I met Norma Yocum when I was 11. She was going door to door in our neighborhood campaigning for assemblywoman in our district. As she came inside our living room she was impressed with my drawings and she became a mentor and friend to me ever since. She has written me letters from that time until now. I have kept a good majority of them. She is 99 years young and has always had the energy of a steam locomotive as she was raised by a father that worked on the railways around the country. Norma is a can do woman. She was mayor of Alhambra Ca.and was instrumental in introducing me to Sam Hyde Harris, a prominent California Plein Air painter , who was also instrumental in my artistic development. She also introduced me to Ronald Reagan when he was Governor of California. She has continually encouraged me on to artistic achievement ever since I can remember and has remained one of my fiercest cheerleaders.

We will be driving to Napa today to visit Norma as her health is failing and her last letter that I received this week shows me that physical ailments are getting her down. Also, the business her and husband started in the 50's , Yocum Business Furniture closed its doors last year. She is a believer. And her spirit has been felt literally throughout the world by way of 100 letter writing correspondences that she keeps. She has always chided me that I am not a letter writer but I think she would be proud, if she had internet, to know that I write a Blog about my art world.

She wrote me something about writing that I want to share....

The Art of writing a letters is something that can be learned---by much serious practice. It has been my hobby since I can remember. One of my high school papers that I saved is in fact a letter written to a non-existing friend. The teacher gave me an A+ and she wrote a note to me that said: "If all your letters are as interesting and as well written as this your friends will indeed be blest."I have kept that in my mind and I try to make every letter I write one that is worth the reading.

My simple steps in writing a letter are:

1. Take a blank sheet of paper and pen. Lay them before you and take a moment to think of the person you are writing to. Remember the friendship you share. Does your friend have a need for sympathy, for encouragement , for entertainment , for information?
2. Mentally embrace your friend and give him a sincere greeting. Let him know that the two of you are alone and together. What is about to be said is for him alone---and he must know that it is the truth.
3. Now proceed to tell him a story.
4. That is all there is to it. You must enjoy the time you spend together and he will too. It has been a visit you yearned for, one of pure joy.

Norma has lived a rich and full life and has given me a special friendship. She has truly blessed so many friends like me with her letters. It is one of lifes absurdities that she has outlived so many close friends.

She sent me something 3 years ago that has impacted my walk. She has written a saying or aphorism for each year of her life. I will list some that have touched me and spured me on to reflection and action. Some are more serious than others as Norma loves to laugh and has that golden sparkle in her eye.

9. When I waved to people in the country, they stopped what they were doing and waved back!

15 It is hard to admit it, but I'm secretly glad my parents are strict.

24 Silent company is often more healing than words of advice.

26 Brushing my child's hair is one of Life's great pleasures.

42 There are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it. Be kind and generous with them.

51 You can tell a lot about a man by the way he handies thses four things - a rainy day, lost luggage, a tangle of Christmas tree lights, or a meal that isn't ready when he is.

61 If you want to do something positive for your children, love their Mother more deeply and tell her that you love her.

83 Even when I have pains, I don't have to BE ONE. ( she was recovering from cancer when she wrote this )

96 I have learned that if you like yourself and treat yourself with kindness and humility, people will like you too.


There are more golden jewels but this post would be pretty lengthy. As I grow older I am more aware of the blessings heaped upon me by Norma. What a wonderful priviledge it has been to have met Norma! Its time for me to be a Norma to my friends.


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ON BEING FRANK salutes our galant men and women who have given their lives for this country on Memorial Day.