My life path is out of sync with most of my friends. I dropped out of high school and married young. I dreamed about one day getting an education, though it seemed impossible. Yet, years after my divorce, as the mother of three teens, I had taken some big steps in my life. I was settling into a new relationship and had founded a small business showing signs of taking off.
Realizing my GED credential and Community College degree might limit my credibility, I applied for a student loan and registered in the Com Art Sci department at Michigan State University. My dream now closer, I was excited and intimidated.
Despite my LCC experience, I felt out of my element. The students, half my age, mostly ignored me and that was okay. I adored one of my professors. Norm Fontes was young, brash, bright, sarcastic and a Vietnam veteran. His students didn’t get him, and they didn’t like the tough subject he taught. When students found out Norm hated beets, cans kept showing up on his desk.
Norm and I would chat after class. He seemed interested in what I did for a living and one day stated he had just delivered a speech at Bismarck Junior College in North Dakota. He said, “I think you would fit in nicely there. Tell you what. Write a letter of recommendation about you as if I wrote it. I’ll sign and send it. Maybe they will hire you.”
I thought, “Me write it? I don’t know how to write that kind of letter! What should I say? I’ve never done anything like this!” Despite my near panic, I said yes. A few days later I started the letter. And kept writing.
I did what Norm asked. And he did what he promised. That letter resulted in two decades of steady work in North Dakota and South Dakota, plus referral work in Minnesota and Wyoming. I never forgot what this man with the cold disposition and warm heart did for me.
One year I decided to look him up and thank him again. I was crushed to learn he had died from Agent Orange-related causes, so this is my tribute to Norm, though he deserved so much more.
© 2025. Leslie Charles, Speech Coach, Speaker, Author, Funeral-life Celebrant. leslie@lesliecharles.com