My friend Larry O

I haven't posted here in a while... but I felt compelled to after what the range of emotions I experienced this morning.

Larry O'Rourke, one of our sports announcers and sideline reporters for T-102 and WPPA, is one of my favorite people to work with. I always enjoying conversations with him. The longer the road trip was, the better the stories were.

Now, I know where his son got his gift of gab that I've been reading all about.

I haven't been able to find a bad word said about young Larry O... one of a kind.

Young Larry O was laid to rest today, concluding a four-year battle with ALS. His struggles have been well-documented by his fellow writers at the Morning Call. Just google Larry's name and you'll see all the tributes to him. They're beautiful.

Larry had a heart as big as a golf course. Read the posts of my friends Mandy & Tom Housenick on the Morning Call's website. That explains Larry in a nutshell.

I never met young Larry O in person, and I really wish I had. The only time I was in the same facility as he was the night he got inducted into Blue Mountain High School's sports hall of fame. This was 2008. He was transported to the ceremony stage via golf cart, with Big Larry O driving.

As his abilities became more limited, you never heard him complain. I never heard Big Larry complain either. Every time I asked Dad about son, the response was always as positive as possible.

While sitting in Saint Ambrose during the funeral mass, I looked around to see his fellow scribes, fellow sports reporters, and a number of Philadelphia sports dignitaries.

Before the final blessing, Big Larry stood up. As best he could, he thanked everyone. It was the most trying, and equally, most courageous, minute of his life. I highly doubt there was a dry eye in the congregation after that. Mine included.

Our celebrant stated that the most painful moment for a parent is to bury their own children. I've never seen the pain battled more gracefully as I have with my friend, Larry O.

His luncheon is this afternoon. The emotions will more likely swing from those of sadness and tears to smiles and laughs.

That's how Young Larry O would have wanted it.

When the time comes for us to remember Big Larry O, it will not only be as a great storyteller, and a great colleague and a great friend. It will also be as one of the strongest, toughest people I know.

"God Bless Larry O'Rourke!"

When Big Larry O shouted that at the end of his minute, I thought the exact same thing of Young Larry O.

And Big Larry O, too.