The BB definately won't be the same anymore. I didn't expect this.

Makes all the petty shit go away.

rip, plaw

shine on

I hadn't realized how ill Plaw really was until I read this thread. Not being one of the meeting members ("Breakfast Club" as FS calls them) I wasn't privy to this beforehand, I had only assumed he had some sort of rough patch or bad luck and ended up in the hospital.

It is with my most heartfelt condolences I bid my great adversary goodbye. Even if we disagreed on most things political, there was no one else I preferred to argue with. A truly worthy debate partner. Irregardless, I always appreciated his thoughtful replies which, whether right or wrong in my eyes, were eloquent and well-organized. Outside of the political sphere, I didn't really know Plawrence. Even when it came to the Sports forum, we shared our differences, mainly because he disliked the Yankees.

And yet, there will now be a void at this forum, especially in the political discussion. Who else could I get into a war of words with and feel like both sides had made no ground?

Again, I regret not having the chance to discuss this with him in person, even if I vehemently disagreed with his stances.

Look at it this way Plaw - in heaven, there is no slippery slope.

Farewell, Plawrence.

Sincerely,
Double-J

Really Gonna Miss You by Smokey Robinson

Really gonna miss you
Its really gonna be different without you
Time is gonna be hard and slow
For the rest of my life
Gonna be thinking about you (yes I am)
Time came when you had to go

I'll miss you my buddy
I'll miss you my friend
I promise my love for you will never end

In your finest hour I was there with you
And without you things wont be the same
But there's a higher power that we answer to
And you heard him calling your name

Really gonna miss you
Everything about you your smiling face
I know you want us all to be strong

Really gonna miss you
I know your going to that magic place
Singing you a brand new song

I'll miss you my buddy
I'll miss you my friend
I promise my love for you will never end

I know I havent been around here much lately, but I have been checking the boards daily to see how Plaw has been doin. I didnt know him nearly as well as I would have liked to but everything about him that I could see was truly honorable.

It is sad to see such a great person go. I can only express my condolences to the family and all his good friends. Rest in peace Plaw.

Shit. That's all I can say. Shit. I came across this topic a few days ago, after a break from posting, read the title, and assumed he just "retired" from the site. Shit.

This is really weird. I don't know what to say... I'm just too speechless to say anything at all. Sorry that this post sucked.

IMHO this is a truly wonderful testament to the people of the GBB. All the outpouring of love and concern for Paul and his family during his illness and his passing is amazing.

To quote Turnbull:
From my own experience when Ray's Grandmother passed away the love you shown me and Ray's family with the comforting words helped me out with my grief. I am so blessed to be a part of the GBB family. May God bless you all

"Do not stand by my grave and weep,
Iam not there, I do not sleep,
Iam a thousand winds that blow,
Iam the diamond glint on the snow,

Iam the sunlight on ripened grain,
Iam the gentle autumn rain,
Like a fleeting bird up in the sky,
I do not want to see you cry,
Iam the sweet smells of early spring,
I will be with you when you laugh and sing,

For I am you and you are me,
and in your hearts I shall always be."

May God Bless you Plaw. I will miss seeing your face at the Gangster get togethers very much. You were a special person and you touched a lot of lives for the better. Good bye my friend. We will meet again one day.

Your Pal, Nicky

He IS in a better place now, no more pain. Somehow I am sure he's right alongside Saint Peter doing stats already. After all these years, someone needs to straighten them out. They were just waiting for him. Our loss is Heaven's gain.

I'm very sorry to say that I didn't know Plawrence very well, and from everyone's memories here I know I've missed out. I always read his posts with interest and I found him to be a decent and very wise man. My heart is heavy to find out he's no longer with us and I'm sure that not only this forum, but the human race, will be a poorer place without him.

My thoughts go out to his family and they have my deepest condolences. Plawrence, rest in peace.

Paul's in the ground now. He was buried just before noon on a hilltop with quite a view. Its not quite a slippery slope but I think he'd be happy with the choice of location.

I stood just behind his son, Steve, and his partner, Vickie, during the ceremony. The rabbi who officiated (the same rabbi whom officiated at Paul's father's funeral) made the service a little more personalized by speaking of Paul's love for Steve, Vickie and then "The Godfather" chatroom. He went on to mention that Paul's love of cinema was proved by the fact he owned over 600 films at home (causing Steve to smile for the only time of the day) and his love for "fantasy sports" took up some of his time which he enjoyed.

Vickie showed me the printout of the thread in which many of us gave Paul our well-wishes (Geoff gave it to Paul when he visited him in the hospital). I watched as they put it into his coffin, so a little of us remains with Paul. I assured Vickie that a little of Paul remains with all of us, and it always will.

We were invited to take a shovelful of dirt and add it to the grave and after everyone else went back to their cars I stayed behind for a minute and said my goodbye.

Thanks for the update. Very touching and moving. He's buried near the home of his belove Nets. He'll have a great view now.

Man, I miss him.

Thanks, SC. As Beth said, very touching and moving. I'm most moved by the fact that the thread with all the well-wishes went with him to his final rest. How fitting for a guy who did so much to make these boards the best place on the 'net.

The rabbi making an 'estimate' of how many films Paul owned? An estimate? I can hear the 'Statman' as the rabbi was saying that :

What's the matter with this rabbi? I'll have you all know that I have exactly 253 Gangster Movies, 10 John F. Kennedy movies, 310 various classic movies, and 85 differnet sports movies, for a total of exactly 658 movies in my collection.

No estimates or guesses with our friend Paul. When it came to numbers and statistics, everything had to be precise and exact!


Don Cardi

My mind is playing tricks on me. I looked back at the view from the grave and was truly impressed... it looks out from a high area down towards the City... I thought, "Wow, thats some view". Now I can't remember what the view was of.

It was a day befitting a funeral. Slate gray sky, some light rain near the beginning, very windy and VERY COLD. The ceremony itself lasted only about 20 minutes but I was freezing and my legs were shaking. I'm not sure if that was from the emotion or the cold but I do know I was happy to get back to my (warmer) car.

Vickie told me a story.... this morning as she was preparing herself for the funeral she was blow-drying her hair in the bathroom. All of a sudden the lights went out (apparently the electrical circuit was tripped - something that never happened before) and she "felt" Paul's presence. She said her "goodbye" to him then. Well, as I just told Don Cardi, I came home, ate something and went to sleep. Earlier, about 6:45, my phone rang, waking me up. Since I was in a deep sleep I was a little disoriented. I just laid there trying to get my bearings when the phone rang again. No message this time but I was intriqued at two calls within two minutes so I got up to see who called and as I went to turn on the light it blew out (the first time that happened in my bedroom in the 3+ years I live here). As I went to get a replacement bulb I said, "Paul, if thats you it ain't funny".

Wow, that was such a nice touch...!

Thanks, SC!

PS - If the lights go out here any time soon, I'm certainly gonna freak out!

Ok, this literally just gave me chills up and down my spine. This kind of stuff freaks me out.

I don't know. If my lights go out I'll say, "Hi Paul, thanks for stopping by". But then again, I live here in freakin' Baltimore and Geoff did say Paul was lousy at directions.

I don't know if that was Paul's wish or if Vickie thought of it herself. Paul's (small) family was aware of his participation on our boards and was somewhat fascinated by that. One of his cousins was there and she was telling me what a nice group of people we were... she had met Sicilian Babe at the hospital two weeks ago when they were both visiting Paul. (She went on to say how nice SB was )

Our little community here meant a great deal to Paul. He was happy whenever a group got together just as he was happy to simply be here online.

I don't mean to suggest that Paul came to visit but I thought it kind of funny that it was so coincidental.

I will, however, check my supply of garlic bread in my freezer.

Dunno who is worse... Paul at giving directions OR Geoff at following them. :p

Geoff can get lost going around the corner. How the hell he ever made it out to Chicago is beyond me.

Thanks to SC for sharing this really nice photo of plawrence, possibly the best I've seen on the BB.



It is wonderful and touching to be able to see a healthier, far more robust plaw than the one I met in Sept. 2005.

Because of his thin, frail appearance I wondered silently that night if he was a healthy man, having no idea he'd already been diagnosed. Even so...throughout the entire evening his personality and wit shined through.

As most everyone knows we were soon back to arguing on the BB ... and I never told plawrence how warm and engaging I found him at the dinner.

So I'll tell it to the rest of you now.

I'm sure it is the way he'd like to be remembered.

Apple

SC,

Thank you so much for the update. You have a way with words and describe things so well that it's easy to visualize. What a chill went through my body reading how our posts to Paul are with him. I do hope he knew just how much we all loved him.

Also, how is his son doing considering the circumstances? He'll be ok? How my heart goes out to him.

I'm so happy that so many are contributing to this thread. Some of you knew Paul well, others a little, some of us met him once or twice, and others not at all, yet we all care. You can't tell me this isn't a "family." Maybe not your traditional family, but still a family.

I miss you Paul!!!

TIS


In honor of PLaw

"Difficult....not impossible"

SC,

I know it must've been hard for you to go to Paul's funeral. I just want to say thank you for going for those of us who lives so far away and wish we could be there. I also think it is so good of you to be there for his son and Vickie. It's no wonder why Cardi calls you his MOST VALUED FRIEND After reading your account of the day I felt like I was there in spirit. While reading your post I got the chills and the hair on my arms stood Up. I still have the chills.

I've been thinking about Paul alot today. My inlaws came over for a visit and we took them out to dinner tonight. And while we were at the restraunt I don't know if it was because I had him on my mind today or my eyes are playing tricks on me but I swear I seen his twin. Weird huh?

For sure. Thanks for telling us how it went, it sounds like it was a nice goodbye. I still can't believe he's gone. Nice touch, that printout going with him.

SC,
Thank you so much for letting us know about Paul's funeral. I miss him terribly, and am glad that "we" were represented when he was laid to rest. I knew that Vickie was going to bury him with that printout, but it's so nice to hear.

Yes, I did meet his cousin that day, and her mother. She's the poor woman I almost gave a stroke when I told her that I had met Paul on the internet. Their love for Paul was so obvious that day.

SC, you do have a way with words. No wonder Paul thought so highly of you! Thank you again for letting us know. I still find it hard to believe that he's gone. I expect to hear his voice one more time, just to pick up my phone and hear him on the other end, "Hey, Babe".

Yeetgadal v' yeetkadash...

Tonight, while I was deleting a new voicemail I didn't care about from my phone, I let the saved msgs play on -- cuz I knew Plaw was on there. Alas, the time must've passed that it expired, and it's gone.

I'd like to echo the above sentiments and thank you for the update, SC.

As painful as it may be...and as difficult as it is...I know that Plaw is in a better place now...and that he is suffering no more. He deserves that much.

And yet there's still that part of me that wants to be selfish...and would give anything to read one more political debate between Cardi, DJ and Plaw...or to laugh out loud one more time at a Neal Pulcawer news story.

I keep thinking back on the Frank Vincent story...and I can't help but chuckle and smile every time I think about it. The "smile" seems to be a recurring thing whenever I think of him. As sad as I am...I can't help but smile whenever I think of him.

God bless you, Paul. You were one of a kind.

This is weird. I saw someone tonight that I thought looked just like him. I was at my friend's birthday party, and she had a mariachi band come play. One of the musicians in the group looked just like Plaw - or at least, as I know him through the photos posted here. I told myself that I was just thinking it because he was on my mind, but everytime I looked at the guy, the similarity was amazing.

SC, thanks for the beautiful description of the funeral, and especially for representing all of us who couldn't make it. The thread printout being included was a great idea.

I can't seem to figure out how to deal with this. I try not to get upset, because I know Plaw wouldn't want any of us to feel bad, and I know it's for the best for him to be out of pain...but when I allow myself to think about it, I wish so very much that we could have him back. I know it's selfish, but with a great man like Plaw, I think it's reasonable.

Something I thought of...

I realize that now and anytime soon probably wouldn't be a good time, but I wonder if, at some point, Plaw's girlfriend and/or son could join as members here. I think it would help both them and us to get to talk with each other and share memories of him. I'm sure they'd like it here, and that could further keep the spirit of Plaw alive. Just an idea I wanted to mention...

I've not been online for two days. My condolences to all close friends and family of Paul. This is really a sad news and a great loss for us.

It will never be the same without plaw and I'll miss him more than I know.

You touched my heart Paul and you'll stay there. Rest in peace! I'm off to listen to the Requiem and pray for this departed friend.

In further remembrance of Paul I'm adding a link (below) to what I consider the single most impressive message ever posted here - his "The Night Before Christmas (Godfather Version)" poem.

This was plaw at his best, and thanks to the internet and Geoff's large database we'll have it with us for a long, long time.

Read it. Enjoy.

The Night Of The Hit Attempt

'Twas the night of the hit attempt, and all through the estate
Some were not sleeping 'cause the party'd run late
The drapes were left open by Fredo with care
Not knowing Roth's hitmen soon would be there

Kay C. was nestled all snug in her bed
While hopes of legitimacy danced in her head
And Mama still thinking of Connie and Merle
Hoping her daughter would be a good girl

When out on the lawn there arose a slight clatter
Michael looked through the drapes to see what was the matter
Then away from the window he sprang like a hare
As the sound of the gunfire rang through the air

He crawled on the floor to reach Kay in her bed
And then pulled her down while he cradled her head
The shooting was over and so was the noise
In the room where the children come play with their toys

Michael ran out, though his eyes were still bleary
"Where's Rocco? Where's Fredo? Where's Hagen and Neri?"
"Get them alive, Rocco" is what Michael said
But he knew that the hitmen were already dead

Back in the house Michael sat down with Tom
And said "I'm going to Florida, you'll be the new Don
"There's a traitor among us who's name I can't leak"
But he thought it was Fredo, so stupid and weak

On the way to Miami, Mike started to think
About those he had killed without even a blink
McCluskey, Sollozzo, Stracchi and Rizzi
Moe Greene, Tattaglia, Tessio, and Barzini

And he knew he'd be adding one more to that list
And when he found him, his lips he would kiss
The kiss of death he would get, then his life would be lost
But that still left the question: Pentangelli or Roth

By the end of the movie, Michael knew who it was
Ola, and Fredo, and Roth was the buzz
So Mike had them all killed, but his mind was still frozen
On Hyman Roth's words about the business he'd chosen

Michael tried to retire...his head started to spin
"As soon as I'm out, they just pull me back in"
He made Vincent the Don, much to his delight
And decided to go to the opera that night

But due to events which unfolded, to wit:
Mike didn't know that there'd be one more hit
Both twins were killed; it was really quite scary
But what made it worse was, the killer got Mary

So Michael died wealthy, although really quite poor
He won many battles, but still lost the war
And now final words for my friends on this site:
Happy holidays to all...watch The Godfather tonight!
_________________________