Im still trying to take this one in. Thanks to everyone who reached out to me today. I am in good spirits as I know Lawrence wouldn't have wanted me distraught over this. I visited his restaurant back in December and his maître 'd was talking and said he was up and moving about and even danced a little. Yeah, I had to excuse myself to the mens room for a moment, just couldn't bear to think of him not up on his feet. The last time I saw him, we laughed and hugged as we saw each other and hugged as we left each other. That's my Lawrence and that's the memory of him Ill take till my time in the grave.
So who was Lawrence Lo? I think there have been so many testimonies on here and over the years to the humility and grace and good nature of the man. I ate at his restaurants several times. He always had reservations for us. He never charged us- till I put my foot down!! {sm4}He was a huge fan of all things Navy- I told him an acquantaince of mine (Navy type) was taking his wife to NYC for their 25th anniversary. He had a table ready for them as they showed up and they all ate for free. He got in touch with me shortly after our house burned down back in 2010. We wanted to get away from the world and always head to NYC during Christmas time. We ate like kings that day and were able to forget the predicament we were in. Somehow, just being around him and that moment my wife and I knew things were going to be ok.
He knew all my kids by name and they loved him. Lawrence wasn't just a man many of us had the pleasure of knowing. He was a dedicated force for happiness that made all of us who knew him look inside ourselves and see the goodness we possessed. You'd never know it but he'd charm his way in his own unique style and you'd be forever fixed into a better person. You would see it in his employees- they would always treat my family and I like royalty. One day I was walking around in his neck of the woods and stopped in to see if he was around. He wasn't but the woman who was the hostess remembered us and poured me a shot and got my little guy a glass or orange juice. We warmed up and were ready to face the world. He wasn't just a "boss" he was a fearless leader who mentored and genuinely cared about his employees. I remember talking to him when Tse Yang was closing and all he would talk about was what he could do for his displaced employees. That is a management style long since passed in most American business today- especially the restaurant business.
I will never forget when I went to see him that last time at Tse Yang- I was with my family and some friends and the guy (air Force) had all these tech gadgets and got us lost. We were closer than I realized. I called his restaurant and said "Lawrence, we are on East 44th st (I believe it was 44th)- how do I get to you? He paused and I could hear him laughing. "Chris, Is that you? Is an army guy asking a navy guy for directions?? Just turn around 180 degrees dumb a--. (he was on west )" We laughed about that all the time. I was so embarrassed!!
He was the type of man you hope your daughter marries. The world is a much lesser place now because of his passing. I will never forget him. I loved him like a brother and will miss seeing him and laughing over all sorts of obnoxious buffoonery I would engage in. In a world full of superficial nonsense, his character, integrity and humanity were a throwback and testament to the timeless values of the decency and humility we all desperately hope to find in one another and should hope to one day attain as humans. Ill miss you bro.
STANDS ALONE
CC
I met Larry through Brad. Everything that Andy, Brad and others have said about Larry is shared by me.
