ForeverMissed
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This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Michael Patrick O'Brien, 49 years old, born on January 31, 1961, and passed away on February 19, 2010. We will remember him forever.
February 19
February 19
And now it is 14 years my "only son". I would have put you to work this week helping me and Jesse move for the umpteenth time, if you lived close to us at this point in your life. I miss sharing my life with you. RIP son.
February 19
February 19
She never forgets you Michael. She’ll be her soon and she’ll go to the cemetery. We are very lucky to have her for our mother. Miss you brother.
January 31
January 31
Happy heavenly 63rd birthday Michael. You are missed. So many things have happened that we haven't been able to share with you. You are always in my thoughts and prayers. We will meet again one day.
February 19, 2023
February 19, 2023
13 years Michael. Hard to believe. Jesse and I will be at the cemetery putting a shamrock and Spring flowers in the bud vase. RIP my son.
January 31, 2023
January 31, 2023
On what would have been your 62nd birthday Michael I am reflecting on how you would have enjoyed the last 13 years. Would you still be in California living on a house boat? Would you and Ryan have found peace in your father/son relationship? So many dreams unfulfilled. You are in my heart forever. RIP my only son.
February 19, 2022
February 19, 2022
12 years since you left us Michael. We think of you every day and miss you. I love you and wonder what you would have done with your dreams these past 12 years. RIP son.
January 31, 2022
January 31, 2022
Thinking of you on your birthday Michael. 61 years old. Soon Clifford will join you in the wall at Cherry Hill Cemetery. We are waiting for new engraving with your pictures displayed. You are always in my heart. Love from Mom.
February 19, 2021
February 19, 2021
11 years ago you left this world for a better place. While I know you hadn't done all you wanted to here on earth, God had a different plan for you. Until we meet again, you are always in my heart.
January 31, 2021
January 31, 2021
60 years ago we began a journey together Mike. I loved you the first minute I laid eyes on you and still loved you the last minute I laid eyes on you. Your life was special. You are thought of often. Until we meet again, I will continue to keep you close to my heart.
February 19, 2020
February 19, 2020
10 years Michael. So hard to believe. I love and miss you and wonder what wonderful things you would be doing with your life now. RIP dear "only son".
February 19, 2019
February 19, 2019
Jesse and I will be going to the cemetery today Michael. We will decorate your grave with St. Patrick items because we know how much you enjoyed St. Patrick's Day and we will be on the way home from a cruise on the real St. Patrick's Day. We love you and think of you always. RIP my only son.
January 31, 2019
January 31, 2019
Happy 58th Birthday Michael. Even though you were only with us 49 years, I treasure all the memories of the little boy you were and the happy man you were as you were getting ready to move to California and live on your new boat just before you passed. You are in my heart. I love you and will see you in Heaven.
February 19, 2018
February 19, 2018
So hard to believe you left us 8 years ago Michael. I think of you often and wish you were still with us to make memories. Instead, I cherish the happy memories we made during the 49 years you spent in my life. You are loved forever my "only son".
February 19, 2018
February 19, 2018
Today should not be a day I remember.  I married wrong today, I lost you today.  I hate today.  I wish you were here so I could laugh with you about our stupid mistakes. I know you hear me, I feel you near me.
I love you brother,
January 31, 2018
January 31, 2018
Someone remembers, someone cares, your name is whispered in someone's name. Remembering you Michael on your 57th birthday. I love you forever.
January 31, 2017
January 31, 2017
Not a day goes by that I don't think of you Michael and wish you were here with us. So many memories and now we make memories that I wish you were a part of. Happy 56th Birthday my "only son". I love and miss you.
January 31, 2017
January 31, 2017
Remembering you extra today brother. Happy Birthday!  Love always
February 25, 2016
February 25, 2016
I cannot believe you have been gone 6 years Michael. I think of you every day and wonder how you would have liked living on the house boat in California. You are missed in our family dynamic very much my "only son" Love, Mom
January 31, 2016
January 31, 2016
Today you would have been 55 Brother, double nickels... I miss you.
February 19, 2015
February 19, 2015
Five years since your passing Michael. Where does the time go? You are in my thoughts and prayers my "only son".
February 19, 2013
February 19, 2013
On the third anniversary of your death I am remembering our last time together. I hope you found comfort in the words I spoke to you. You are in my thoughts everyday. RIP in peace my only son. Love

.
February 19, 2013
February 19, 2013
It is hard to believe you have been gone three years today brother. I woke up this morning thinking of you again and I miss you so much but I know you're watching over us. I love you.
January 31, 2013
January 31, 2013
I woke up thinking of you, but it was nice and I was smiling.  I miss you brother. Happy birthday! I love you.
January 31, 2013
January 31, 2013
You are in my thoughts everyday Michael but especially today on what would have been your 52nd birthday. Our lives are emptier because you are not here to share your love and wit with us. We miss you. I love you my only son. Mom
March 17, 2012
March 17, 2012
Happy St. Patrick's day Mike. I know how much you enjoyed this day. I wish you were here to enjoy it. Sending love your way. Mom
October 13, 2011
October 13, 2011
Thinking of you Michael and wishing I could pick up the phone and hear your voice. I miss you.

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Recent Tributes
February 19
February 19
And now it is 14 years my "only son". I would have put you to work this week helping me and Jesse move for the umpteenth time, if you lived close to us at this point in your life. I miss sharing my life with you. RIP son.
February 19
February 19
She never forgets you Michael. She’ll be her soon and she’ll go to the cemetery. We are very lucky to have her for our mother. Miss you brother.
January 31
January 31
Happy heavenly 63rd birthday Michael. You are missed. So many things have happened that we haven't been able to share with you. You are always in my thoughts and prayers. We will meet again one day.
Recent stories

Michael Patrick O'Brien

February 13, 2011

For those of you who don't know me or don't know me well, I am Michael's sister, his big sister. I am also the oldest child of four children and today I am a Jr. High science teacher. My brother was like a shining star, he was brilliant in every sense of the word. His mind was always working, as a young boy he started honing his entrepreneurial skills by shoveling walks and mowing lawns. As long as I can remember my brother was always working and earning money. He had a lot of friends, life long friends. This always amazed me.

As young adults I remember going to my former sister-in-laws graduation party from college and the friends of theirs who walked in for the party I had known since I was a little girl. Some had been his friends since elementary school, most since at least Jr. high school. Imagine that . . . 15 or 20 friends already together over 10 years.

My brother and I fought a lot when we were kids, probably because we were 16 months apart in age. But we loved each other and the things we fought about were stupid things, kid things, things you can't even remember as an adult. But we got along too. I remember playing kick the can in the street in front of our house. Kids from all over the neighborhood played and when the street lights came on, we all ran for home. I remember playing in the models in our subdivision and the boys riding their bikes out of second story windows down huge dirt piles. I remember older kids picking on him when he was in 7th grade outside the fence that passed from our neighborhood into Holmes Jr. High schools field and screaming at the boys to get away from my brother and amazingly they did. And I remember my brother screaming at me, "I can take care of myself." and he could.

Our father left our family a couple of years after our mom married our dad. Michael was about 7 1/2 and I was 9 when he left. It didn't matter though because we had our dad and he'd been around since we were very little, I think Michael was 4 when we met him. He always made us feel like we were really his kids and you would never know there was a difference with our littlest sister, it just didn't work that way in our house. I remember eating dinner every night at 6 pm and Michael hated peas and dad made us eat everything on our plate. Our dog, Holly, must of liked peas maybe that's why Michael adored her so much. A boy and his dog. And Dad, Michael loved playing Zynga poker with you everyday. He told me many times and would joke how he was going to whoop your butt at the table. But that might just be a big fish story.

I remember the day Robert Michael was born, my middle son. In 1980 the only person allowed in the hospital room with the baby besides the mother was the father. Well, in walks my brother, right into my room baby in the room and all. I asked how he was able to come in to the room when it wasn't visiting hours. He said, "I told those nurses I drove all night from California and I couldn't wait another minute and they let me in." And that is how Robert Michael came to have his middle name. Uncle Michael was a smooth talker and I guess quite a looker, cause those nurses broke the rules and let him come and meet you before anyone else in the family did. By the way he went to CA in the summer, that day he had driven all the way to Southfield from Livonia. What a character.

My boys and I visited my brother in Key West FL, and in Denver CO and I visited him in Albuquerque NM. He traveled through many of the states in this country. He was truly an adventurer not afraid to live life. He made his mind up to do something and he found a way to do it.

Prior to 2000 he began his own alarm company and during winter break from college in 2000 my oldest son, Tom, went and spent 8 weeks with his Uncle Michael and his family. Uncle Michael taught him about business, life lessons that cannot be learned in the classroom.

And my youngest son, Jerry, is his Godson. He was entwined and rooted deeply in the lives of my sons and myself. He lived with us three times over the years. Always as he was just getting ready to start a new chapter in his life.

The greatest joy in my brother's life was his son, Ryan. A bitter custody battle took him away from him and for that I am truly sorry. Michael was a loving father, how could he not be. He had a father who walked away from him, he knew first hand the emotional pain that type of behavior causes. He would have moved Heaven and Earth to be with Ryan and I am sure that it consumed him for the past 5 years that he was without him.

There is one woman that Michael loved all his life and that is our Mother. His love for you must of been so strong because like all well loved children he could be a jerk to you, while not very often, he could. Only children who are confident in the unconditional love of a parent can do that. The trust is so great that you will never stop loving them. He waited for you Mom and you made it with 15 minutes to spare. You were and always will be "his valentine". You never walked away and you never gave up . . . you just kept right on loving your "only son".

And Leslie and Debbie, he LOVED being the BIG BROTHER and you two made that truly possible for him.

My brother wrote his own epilogue, "They always told me I couldn't...all my life..I always proved I could...so one more time....lol!" When he took the ACT/SAT's in HS they told him he would be a good foreman for a construction crew, he said no sir I am going to college and they told him you aren't college material. He went to college and graduated with a BS in Finance and Marketing. They told him he would never play college ball. He was a walk on red shirt for CMU and even played in a game that was televised on one occasion. If you told him "no" he would make sure you were wrong and show you "yes" he could. A brilliant mind.

My brother left this world looking forward, feeling good and dreaming big. Off to CA on a sailboat named Lois Lane. He felt like Superman. The only missing thing in his life was Ryan. I use the term "was" because I believe in Angels and I know moments after Michael left this life he was and will remain with Ryan for all the days of his young sons life.

I started this note by saying my brother was a brilliant mind. He was like a star. Our star, the sun, takes 8.3 minutes for its light to reach us. This means that in 5.5 billion years when the sun dies, its light will still shine on earth for 8.3 minutes. Michael's light took 49 years to get to Heaven. By my calculations we have at least 49 years for his light to shine down on us leading the way back to him when our time comes.

Rest in peace little brother and remember . . . You once told me that when I die I should tell St. Peter to let you in when you arrive at the gates of Heaven. Well brother, right back at you, right back at you.

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