I was shocked to hear of Chuck Norris’ death last week. Apparently, the Spokesman-Review post I once retweeted wasn’t accurate.

In the end, Chuck Norris didn’t beat death.

But in all seriousness, I did feel disappoint that Norris had died. The man figured prominently in my childhood, especially when it came to Saturday nights.

Just five things about Chuck Norris…

1. My siblings and I grew up big fans of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” In fact, after suffering through extremely early bedtimes for most of our childhoods, my parents would let the three of us watch the new “Walker” episodes when they would premiere on CBS at 10 p.m. on Saturday nights. Such nice memories.

2. Believe it or not, my grandma was a big Chuck Norris fan. Nothing gave her more of a thrill in her latter years than when Norris would perform his martial arts on bad guys.

3. I found the non-Walker version of Chuck Norris via constant infomercials for Total Gym. They were a little painful to watch and Norris never seemed to bring a lot of personality to those spots but he definitely saturated the exercise market.

4. I just started college when the Chuck Norris memes really started to take off. In fact, I remember people in my residence hall writing the Norris jokes on the dry erase portions of their doors.

5. Chuck Norris was great because even though he was a superstar and billed as the toughest man in the world, he was also relatable. He just seemed to embody a “regular guy” mystique. Norris actually reminded me of a normal dad who lived a few houses down from where I grew up.

Chuck Norris was THE MAN on “Walker, Texas Ranger.” I sure enjoyed watching it on Saturday nights with my brother and sister.

Let’s pray for the repose of Chuck Norris’ soul. May eternal rest be grant unto Chuck Norris, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. Don’t Blink.