For Mike

A dear friend of ours was killed in a motorcycle accident last night.

We got the call this afternoon. We were too shocked to cry at first.

He was a father-figure and friend to Derick during those crazy teen years.
He was a single dad who raised two great kids all on his own.
He dedicated everything he had to his kids while they were growing up. And I mean everything.
He accepted me and loved me immediately when I first met him.
He was a groomsman in our wedding and felt very honored that we would ask him, "the old guy".
Every time we saw him he would hug us and say emphatically, "If there's ever anything you need, call me. Whatever it is, wherever you are, I don't care. You can call me." And we knew he meant it.
He was a storyteller. Any visit was sure to be chock full of stories of his mad-cap younger days - especially the one about riding his motorcycle up the steps and through the front doors of his high school. And his eyes would twinkle and he would laugh and you were never quite sure if he was pulling your leg or not.
He was one of a kind and we will miss him tremendously.


*sigh* I am really, really sad.