Heard It From A Friend...

Rose warned me that Marcy was going to attend the wedding with her fiancé, a 40-ish banker named Larry McIntyre.

"He's kind of a smarmy dick, Dad, but I guess she loves him. I know you'll behave yourself, even if he goes a little overboard," she said.

"As long as he only goes a little overboard," I replied.

Rose had this guy nailed. He was a smarmy bastard, but he kept within boundaries. I could tell that Marcy was a little nervous that he would push me a bit as she never left the two of us alone, always lurking somewhere close when we talked.

As the father of the bride, I paid for the wedding, and I made sure that Rose got everything she wanted. Through the years, I had done quite well for myself at Isaacs-Forsman Associates. Yes, the name had changed a bit, because several years ago I became a 10 percent partner. Phillip Isaacs and Jack Forsman had wanted to add my name to the firm's name, but I thought Isaacs-Forsman had such a great brand name I really didn't want to tinker with it too much. My ego didn't need the validation.

Since I was paying, I made sure I got myself a little treat, and toward the end of the evening I brought out the bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Special Reserve 12-year-old bourbon for my table, which by this point included both Phil and Bob Isaacs, Jack Forsman, my new son-in-law, and Larry McIntyre. I gave the toast.

Larry whispered something to my ex-wife while we were sipping our bourbon, and for the first time all evening, he seemed impressed. A little while later, Marcy cornered me alone to thank me for putting on a wonderful event, and also for including Larry in on the Pappy.

"You must be doing very well for yourself, Norm. This whole evening had to set you back a bundle," Marcy said.

"I've been doing well for quite a while, even while we were married. You just weren't paying too much attention because you were distracted by your 'soul mate.'

"By the way, I can't say I'm sorry that didn't work out too well for you. Maybe Larry will turn out to be a better man."

Marcy at least got to the altar with Larry, although the two were divorced less than three years later. Last I heard from Rose, she was pretty much alone, occasionally dating a Senior Citizen and playing Bingo at her church weekly.

My marriage to Lainey only got better the longer we went. Rose and my son-in-law gave us two grandchildren. Shawn, meanwhile, joined Isaacs-Forsman Associates after he graduated from college. He got married two years later, and he and his wife gave us three more grandchildren.

Lainey and I talked about being empty-nesters to death, finally coming up with a plan to buy an RV and tour the country in between being home, working and spoiling our grandchildren.

It's been years since I've seen Tim Wycliffe. I hope things turned out well for him.