I’ve been getting e-mails about the lack of columns lately. My laptop is dead and I’m doing my best for news borrowing others’ computers. 7-10 days, we’ll be back to normal. I wish I was returning for this under pretty much any other circumstances.
Yesterday I learned of the passing of Norine Stice. Some of you might know Norince former Pulse Columnist and Smackdown Reviewer or for her work with the Carnage Chronicles, the single best independent wrestling site I’ve ever come across. That isn’t how I know and remember Norine. If you’ll all allow me to vent for a moment, I’ll share.
I met Norine through some random ROH fan e-mail. I had signed up for some random group e-mail on an address I barely used and, of everyone in the group, Norine made me sit up and take notice. There are really two ways to become a PulseWrestling writer. The normal way is to e-mail Matt Michaels a sample, talk it through with him, and, if you’re good enough, get a job. The other way is, well, talk wrestling with me enough and if you know your stuff and can write, I offer you a job. Norine was an intelligent, witty fan who adored Harley Race and the indies. Needless to say, we hit it off right away.
I’ve made a lot of friends through this site, regularly hanging out with multiple staff members and talking to quite a few more about far more than wrestling, even during the toughest of times. A couple of years back, right around when Norine left Pulse, mostly because her interest was far more on the indies than the Smackdown, (And she greatly helped numerous indie talents get their names out), my life essentially fell apart. I was in an extremely destructive relationship and had lost my job when my dog died. Norine, always involved in animal rescue, which is an understatement – I’ve never encountered anyone else even close to her dedication to animals – saw my upset posts about my dog and ended up being a wise and compassionate helping hand while I worked through some very turbulent times. I thanked her, but I don’t think she ever really knew how much she helped or how much I appreciated it.
I won’t get a chance to tell her now, but I hope I’m wrong, and I hope she does know. And I hope she knows it isn’t just me she helped so much. You can find, with almost no prodding, numerous people who’ve met her that outright gush about her warmth and willingness to give and help without ever asking for anything in return. I hope her daughters have strength in this troubling time and realize how truly blessed they were to have such a fantastic human being as their mother.
So, that’s it. I’ll miss Norine. Sorry if this tribute wasn’t written as well as I’d like. This was tough. Please, feel free to leave thoughts and so on at Norine’s facebook – https://www.facebook.com/NorineStice?ref=ts.
