Friday, April 26, 2024
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My great friend, Michael Barletto, has gone to greener pastures. Only those who knew him well understood that under his occasionally gruff exterior truly beat a heart of gold. Mike was like good Italian bread – crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.
Mike and I first met in October of 1972. I had just started working at the headquarters of Warner-Lambert, a large drug and consumers product company in suburban New Jersey. We worked on the same floor of the HQ, in a large “cubicle farm.” Multiple times, every day, I had to meander through a path which led from my Quality Control Department to other departments, As I did this, one particular cubicle caught my eye. As I would pass by, I would glance into it and there was a sign on the back wall of the cubicle which read, “Notary Sojac” That intrigued me, because I recognized it as an inexplicable saying commonly used in a fairly obscure comic strip named “Smokey Stover.”
(https://www.straightdope.com/21343037/what-s-the-origin-of-notary-sojac)
One day, while passing by that cubicle, I decided to lean into it and say, “Gravy ain’t Wavy.” [another often used Smokey Stover saying from the comic strip] Seated at his desk, Mike (who had never seen me before), got up and gave me a hug ! I was shocked ! From that moment forward, we became fast friends and we remain so to this day, despite our recent unfortunate change in circumstances.
When we met, we were both newly divorced “20-somethings” But we were also Dads living apart from our children. We had common experiences from growing up in 1950’s Italian-American households with stern fathers and a sound work ethic all around us. The connections were many.
Thinking about Mike, and Meg, brings a flood of memories too vast to recount here. There are so many parallels in our life stories. We met as divorced young men living apart from our children. For years, we did a lot of double dating…..at least until we found our second (and last) marriage partners. We found we both had a similar interest in audiophile equipment. We bar-hopped together, went to concerts, smoked some pot, and we ate a lot of gourmet food together, mostly cooked by Michael.
In 50+ years we never exchanged a harsh word and after our second marriages we started new families at almost the same time. The parallels continued throughout the decades. Meg and my wife Brenda have also become fast and lasting friends.
Our hearts go out to Meg, and to Greg, Helen and other family members. .
I think of Mike as the “King of Common Sense.” He could quickly analyze almost any problematic situation, daunting or otherwise, and quickly figure out a workable game plan for fixing it.
His commitment to living a quality life was always on display. Much will be said about Mike’s culinary skills and with good reason.
Like me, he was a committed cat lover.
We saw eye to eye on so many things, including politics. He was an avid patriot.
Mike was also a champion pistol shooter. His knowledge of firearms was encyclopedic. Whenever I had a question about guns, I could call him and he would know the answer, in real time, and without any need to go ”look things up”
Family man, doting father, and loving husband. That says a lot for any man worthy being called a man. In many ways, he was a ‘man’s man.” All of us who knew him know that he was a very special and unusual human being – a diamond in the rough.
It’s hard to believe I can no longer text him, or send/receive our multiple daily emails occasional phone calls, and a get-together every year, to regale ourselves with stories of days past, fun memories and to exchange thoughts about the who, what and how to contemplate all things in many realms.
On occasion I would tell him, I loved him and he may have been a little uncomfortable when I did, but I’m glad I did it, so he knew.
I will miss him daily and dearly. I’d like to think we’ll meet each ither again…..just not yet.
I’m adding some photo memories of he and I through the years. I’m sure there will be many other photos of Mike displayed with all the important people in his richly lived life. Please indulge me as I share only photos of he and I, as a memorial to our deep friendship.
