Beloved Detroit Symphony Orchestra security guard retires after 34 years of service
(CBS DETROIT) - Norris Jackson will clap for you, watch your back for you, and sometimes even talk smack to you.
But after his 34 years of service at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the 69-year-old says he's choosing sleep or service.
"I'm looking forward to getting up when I want to get up, going to bed when I want to go to bed," Jackson said at a retirement celebration Friday afternoon.
Since The DSO opened its doors in 1989, Jackson has stood in front of it.
"I was the very first security personnel hired in the organization, period, the very first," Jackson said.
When Jackson was not directing or protecting the DSO, or giving out a hug or two, he was likely coaching his three grandsons on the football field.
"They are my grandsons, and now I'm getting ready to coach my great-grandsons. I coach for free. I do it for the love of it and to help structure a young person's life," Jackson says.
Upon his retirement, Jackson was honored in the way that fit him, including the gifting of a Michigan Wolverines jersey, a Detroit Lions jersey and a trophy with his name on it.
"To come back and share this with all you all, I'm happy," Jackson said.
And while Jackson says all the gifts are good, nothing will be greater than being able to sleep in on Monday morning.
"If another person asked me what I would do again, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I do know this. When Monday comes, I may wake up like I usually do, but I know I can throw that cover right back over my head," Jackson said as the crowd burst into laughter.