I remember this photo being taken outside of our Great Grandmother Lucy's residence around Thanksgiving or Christmas (can't remember which) shortly after Ashley was born. I remember them talking about all the generations being present and someone suggesting a photo. I also remember heckling Micheal about his poncho and him jokingly remarking that I was just jealous because he was comfy.

As Christmas is quickly approaching, daily i have a flood of memories with Michael. We all know Michael was a big ole brat when it came to presents. He always wanted to know what he was getting and LOVED Christmas and birthdays. When i was about 6 or 7 I remember him giving me one of my first Christmas lessons. He came and woke me up late one night and took me to the Christmas tree. There he proceeded to show me how to cut the tape perfectly, so i was able to open my presents and see what they were. He was a master and had apparently been doing it for years! (sorry Mom!) He showed me how to put everything back and even replace tape if i had to. I outgrew this eventually and would like to say that Michael did too.....but he didn't. He may have quit cutting the tape just so-so but he still shook the presents and looked in closets, always on the lookout! 

Michael and I used to play a LOT of games together. I'm talking about any kind of game, RP games, video games, drinking games, etc, our favorite being Final Fantasy 7. Every time you saved the game, it would put in how much total time you've spent playing that specific game up to that point. You could load the game and continue your progress, adding to the time. Now...if you spent a few hours and died without saving your game, you would lose all your progress and have to start all over from the last save point. This happened...a lot. Our saved game for Final Fantasy 7 by the time we beat it was well over 150 hours, and that didn't include all the countless hours we lost to dying without saving. That's a lot of time devoted to 1 game. 

At any rate, the particular memory that I am going to share doesn't have anything to do with that game, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

One time we were looking around for a new game to play. I completely forgot how we came across it, but one of us came across the role-playing game called Shadowrun. This game functioned a LOT like Dungeons & Dragons. So yeah, embarrassingly, I admit we played a Dungeons & Dragons type game together. And even more embarrassingly, we liked it...so we played it a lot.

One night, we were playing it and drinking pretty heavy. Michael was telling the story of the game and just non-chalantly killed off all of the characters in the game. I asked him how the hell that happened and he looked at me with an evil grin and said, "I'll show you."

He walked out of the room and then walked back in to the room as if he were a different person. He said, "So, we're in the castle." He then proceeded to act out the entire scene that had transpired in the story, but in his living room instead. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

When the scene was complete, he just blankly looked at me and said, "I don't think you fully got all that. I tell you what, I'll do it all over again, but in slow motion."

So he walked out of the room and back in again. He stated, "So we're in the castle." Sure enough, he proceeded to drunkenly act out the entire scene all over again but this time in slow motion. The absolute look of feigned surprise and the slow groans that he acted out as the bullets hit him slowly are permanently locked into my memory. I laughed so hard at his performance that my stomach hurt the next day. 

For those of you who knew Michael well enough to know how terrible of an actor he was, I am here to tell you that he was actually amazing if he was drunk enough.

As coincidences go, they are issuing a complete remake of Final Fantasy 7 in HD for the playstation 4. I am buying it at launch and whether or not he is with me physically, I know that Michael will be there with me every step of the way. 

Michael worked for me at three different companies. His second mom, that's what he called me. I was a little thrown back by it the first few times he said it. I came to realize maybe he felt that way because I was there when he needed me. But if I am being honest it was the others way around. Yeah I gave him a job when he needed one. But Michael was one of the most loyal men I ever knew. I knew if I need something done he never let me down. His honor meant something and his children and family meant everything. God bless

I was just 15years old when Mikey was born. So I feel like we grew up together. When he was about 3 or 4 Denise would let me take him in the car for ice cream or to go to the park. Made a oath I would drive safely. He would go alot of different places with me and we would wash the car or more like we would, in up having a shower ourselfs.

One time when I was watching him, Steve Martin the Comedian had a skit about

curling up in a ball and saying  " Well Excuse Me! .... Mikey and I did that all day

laugh and laugh.... Well then Denise came home and started cooking or what ever.

A few minutes later Denise open the door where Mikey and I were sitting playing with his toys. " Said Mikey you need to start picking up some of this stuff. Mikey curl himself in a ball and Said" Welllll excuseeeeeeeeeee  ME! and throw out his hands. Of course I thought it was funny.... Denise did not. At lease that day.

I still see saying that over and over in my head.

Love you Mike .... My cup runneth over.

When I was little we had a birthday party at the house in Weatherford (I don't remember whose it was), and there were a bunch of games for the kids to play and win prizes. There was this little box of toy butterflies that you got if you won Pin the Tail on the Donkey that I had been eyeing all day, but I overheard Little Kaicee say that she really wanted it also. So before the game started, I went to my dad and told him that Kaicee and I both wanted it, but I definitely wanted it more than her and I didn't think she should have it. My dad told me not to worry, he'd make sure I got the toy. When it was my turn to go, he spun me around and very discreetly raised my blindfold up just enough so I could see everything, but it still looked like my eyes were completely covered. Luckily, I was smart enough to not pin the tail exactly where it was supposed to go, I made sure I was a little off the mark so people wouldn't get too suspicious.

Thanks to my dads cheating ways, I won the toy butterflies, and flaunted them in the other losers faces all day. Sorry Little Kaicee. 

Today is Michael's birthday. So in tribute, I'd like to share a birthday related story about him that has always been a source of continued discussion for us.


A few days after one of my birthdays (I forget which one), I went to Michael's house for a night of late night gaming. He slipped me an envelope and said, "Happy Birthday."

I opened the envelope and there was a folded up letter, and a pen. After saying the obligatory, "You didn't have to get me anything bro," I opened up the letter and began to read it.

The letter read something like this:

"My Dearest Paul,
      While we were at Walmart doing our regular grocery shopping, I also had a mission to get you an amazing birthday present. I went down almost every aisle but nothing I found seemed like it would be good enough. I wanted to get something special, something thoughtful, but nothing I found had the heart or the feelings that I was going for. Finally, after much deliberation, I simply chose to get you a card. Cards are thoughtful and would express my feelings. Also, gifts aren't supposed to be purely material, it's the thought that counts, as long as that thought is genuine. The card seemed to be perfect. I could then express my thoughts and my sincerity. 

However, once we got to the register, I had second thoughts about the card. I mean, it already had a prewritten message in it and that didn't seem too sincere or original at all. I panicked and told the clerk that I did not want the card. She took it from me and said she would put it back. 

I was in despair that I could not find you the perfect gift but proceeded to go through the motions at the cash register so I could get to my car. As I pulled out my checkbook to pay for my groceries, I realized that I did not have a pen. I never seem to have a pen. The clerk saw that I didn't have a pen and handed me a black Bic pen. I used the pen to write the check for my groceries.

It was at that moment that it hit me, I've never seen you with a pen before. I know how difficult it is when you really need a pen and cannot find one anywhere. The pen in my hand felt great. It was a durable hard plastic and even had a great classic color, black. This pen was great and served my needs perfectly. Paul should have this pen.

So I present you with the perfect birthday present, the same black Bic pen that I borrowed from the store clerk. It was there when I needed it and I hope that someday it will be there when you need it too. I looked her in the eyes when I put it in my pocket. She said nothing, as if she knew it was time for her to pass it along.

I love you buddy, happy birthday and may you use this pen well."


I actually tried to get Michael a pen for his birthday a few times since, but nothing ever came close to that original black Bic pen.

Love ya bro. Happy Birthday.

 

I remember spending a summer at my grandmothers in Fort Worth when I was about 13 and Michael was living nearby (walking distance) from her house.  He showed me some scary life size doll in his mother's closet that helped keep the fear of dolls in the family. Michael could have spent that summer excluding me but he never did.... He just wasn't that type of guy. I remember we played cards with his girlfriend all night long. I wish we had always been a close walking  distance from each other growing up but I cherish the times we were together. I'll never forget his almost weezy sinister laugh ... That once you heard you couldn't help but laugh too. 

I know its horrible circumstances but i know Michael would have eaten up all of this attention! He didn't like to just celebrate his birthday, he required that we celebrated his entire month. Some years he would be satisified with the Birthday Week but when convenient it was the entire month. And he was not gracious about his cake and ice cream either. Do not think that because you were a guest or a child that you would get a bigger piece of cake. He made it quite clear that he expected his own cake or atleast a majority of the cake :-) He was the best big brother ever and I'm sure I'll have many more stories to share. I just was thinking after spending hours looking for photos how he would have loved that.

Michael got me my first job. He was the Electronics Manager at Service Merchandise in River Oaks. He used to joke that he could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves. After seeing him in action, I did not doubt it.

The Service Merchandise Uniform required us to wear maroon polo shirts tucked in to Khakis. Men express the fact that they are friends with one another by talking trash to each other. As Michael had a big butt, and his Khakis prominently displayed it, his butt became the source of most trash-talk directed at him.

One day we got a new stock of Star Wars action figures into the store. They were retro in style and one of the figures was Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Disguise (from the first film). Another co-worker of ours named Steve pointed out that the action figure seemed to have a big butt. Finally someone added it all up and thus the nickname of "Big Butt Michael Doll in Stormtrooper Disguise" was born. 

I remember when Michael was about sixteen he raised his voice to me, so in punishment I took off his bedroom door. He thought that was the worst of all punishments he recieved, I would walk by and he would be in the corner of the room dressing, and he would have to play his music so low. He begged me for days to put it back on, I made him suffer for about a week, he never raised his voice to me again, and needless to say he was a happy camper when I put it back on.

For anyone that saw Michael and how big of a man he was, they probaly never knew how scared of spiders, clowns, and dolls he was. His wife Marti was always the his hero because she would kill the spiders for him. Just last month there was a small lizard in his shower, and he come running out telling us it was a firebreathing dragon and of course Marti went and retreived it and it was so small it could have fit into a match box. He would always have the porch light on at night so he could check it out for bugs. When visiting me he would never sleep in a room if it had dolls in it, he hated the larger dolls he said their eyes would follow him.. He was a big lovable teddybear and whoever met him could not forget him because of his wonderful personality.