I wanted to send some information about the Thanksgiving dinner I made for Mike when we were at Northeastern.  I have attached pictures from that night.  I also attached a picture of the tree outside of West Village C (where Mike lived sophomore year) where Dave, Jordan, and I spread his ashes.

My roommate Lizzie and I had been cooking for Mike, his roommates, and some friends for some time.  We decided if the guys bought the food, we would cook for them.  It was win-win for everyone.  Well, we decided to have a pre-Thanksgiving dinner our sophomore year because we wanted to share a special meal with such good friends.  A week or so before Thanksgiving Mike & the guys went shopping for everything and on a day Lizzie & I didn't have class we cooked the foods.  Mike & some of our friends came over that night to eat and we soon realized none of us knew how to carve a turkey but thanks to Google we got that figured out.  We had delicious food and good conversation with good friends.  It was something we talked about often and around Thanksgiving I still always think of that meal.  I saw Lizzie a few weeks ago and we talked about that dinner, and laughed about how little we knew about cooking a turkey and yet how well everything turned out. Here are the pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Jaime Greene

So I met you through a friend our freshman year at NU. I totally thought you were the cutest thing since sliced bread. We never got a chance to get to know each other with crazy lives going on. Maybe I regret that a little. But you never failed to recognize me on campus and always said "Hello." You weren't the kind of guy to be too proud to say hi. It brightened up my days, and you made me hopeful for a bit. You're jammin somewhere in the clouds...and you're smiling and beautiful. Its good. Rest easy Mike.

Carol Corrales

The Celebration of Mikee’s Life and the condolensences on the website were a beautiful tribute, so many accomplishments, so many friends.  May you find some comfort knowing Mikee will always be remembered by those whose lives he touched.

My first days with Mikee began when you hired me to work at the Clinic. I remember picking Mikee up at Day Care, all smiles and so many questions from a little round face with straight brown hair and shoes full of sand. I always told my kids, “If we ever get stopped for speeding start crying and say “Don’t take us to jail.” So too, I told Mikee.  We were cruising down a newly paved Morgnec Road when sure enough flashing lights appeared the rear view mirror and we got stopped for speeding.  Mikee wanted to know why we were stopping, I told him and said, “Remember what I told you.”   He started yelling, “What’s he gonna do?  What’s he gonna do?”    The officer started laughing, we didn’t get a ticket and told me to slow down.   I gave Mikee a hug and said, “You saved us!” There was a big smile on the little round face with straight brown hair and shoes full of sand. I remember putting him in the Sailfish and we’d sail up and down the River till he ran out of things to talk about or the wind died down or he decided he was hungry. I’d head for shore with my crewman,   a little round face with straight brown hair and shoes full of sand. Mikee went off to school, the years flew by, we kinda lost touch, but I still remembered that little round face with straight brown hair and shoes full of sand. The next time I saw him he had had finally outgrown those blue high top boots he just had to wear  everywhere we went. He was no longer that little round face with straight brown hair and shoes full of sand, he was a handsome young man.
Linda Kuiper

Sophomore year at Northeastern Mike lived in West Village with his friend Chris and 3 randomly assigned roommates: Dave, Jordan, and Nick.  I lived on Hemenway Street with my friend Lizzie in a tiny apartment with an even tinier kitchen.  Mike, his roommates, and many of his friends would often hang out in their West Village apartment and Lizzie and I would join them.  At one point Lizzie and I offered to make dinner for Mike and his roommates.  This one time offer turned into a semi-regular event.  We made an agreement that if the guys would buy the food then Lizzie and I would make it for them.  For the most part the meals were easy to make like Sloppy Joes or even a lasagna now and then.  A few weeks before Thanksgiving, Mike upped the level of cooking we were doing.  Somehow the idea of a “pre-Thanksgiving” dinner came up.  We were all such good friends that we wanted to share Thanksgiving together but each of us was going back to visit family for the holiday.  We decided the week before Thanksgiving to make a pre-Thanksgiving dinner complete with a 13 pound turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pies.  Neither Lizzie nor I had ever made a turkey by ourselves before so that was quite the adventure.  Mike called his mom to see how to even cook it!  Lizzie and I spent all day cooking.  When Mike and his roommates came over they were very appreciative and were impressed by the meal we made.  That pre-Thanksgiving dinner is perhaps one of my favorite memories.  I got to share a Thanksgiving meal with a group of people I was truly thankful to have in my life.

It was the fall of our freshman year.  Mike and his roommate Neil went to a Patriots game because they were playing the Dolphins.  Mike was dressed in a Dolphins jersey as he left for the game.  My roommate Tegan and I hung out that night and were waiting for Mike and Neil to come back so we could all hang out.  We kept checking to see if they were back yet and they weren’t.  Finally, Neil was back at the room.  We immediately asked where Mike was.  Neil told us that he lost track of Mike during the game and was surprised that he wasn’t back at the dorms yet.  A few phone calls later and we find out that Mike ran onto the field on the Patriots sideline at one point during the game.  Needless to say Mike got removed from the stadium and taken to the police station.  Neil took a cab to Foxboro to pick up Mike.  We all waited outside their dorm room because we wanted to hear the story knowing it was going to be a good one.  Finally, Mike got back to his room with a brown bag that contained all of his possessions from when he was taken into custody.  We still joke that Mike was banned from Gillette Stadium.  

I was terrified to go to summer orientation at Northeastern.  Even once I got there I hated it.  I wasn’t finding anybody that seemed like a real friend.  I was just committed to making it through those 2 days and going home to enjoy the rest of my summer.  I don’t remember at what point I first met Mike but he must have said hello to me or something.  At one point everyone at orientation was sitting in Blackman Auditorium listening to some speech.  We were being dismissed by major and they called Architecture before they called Psychology.  As Mike was walking down the aisle going to his group, he saw me and said “hi” and flashed a smile.  I kept seeing Mike everywhere.  That night we both ended up at AfterHours dancing.  We talked a little and we thought we may be in the same dorm in the fall but weren’t sure.  When my mom came to pick me up at the end of orientation, I told her about this kid Mike that kept seeing me everywhere and saying hi.  I didn’t know why Mike picked me out of all the students there to try and become friends with.  I was apprehensive.  Sure enough when I was with my mom Mike saw me again and said hi.  I didn’t think much about Mike after orientation until it was move-in day and there he was moving his stuff into the same dorm.  I didn’t know what to do!  I would see Mike sitting out front of our dorm nightly playing the guitar with some of the guys he had met on his floor.  Finally, after a few days I said hi to him and of course he remembered me from orientation.  As they say, the rest is history.  Months later after we became really close friends we talked about the first time we met.  I apologized to Mike for being cold towards him and he forgave me.  Instead of holding it against me, it became a story we loved to tell people.  An unlikely beginning to what turned out to be a great friendship.  A story that showed Mike’s true colors - his ability to find a person who needed a friend the most and forgive a person who may not have always been nice to him.

Jaime Green

Tyera Cherrey

hey mikee,
long time no talk.... i miss you so much. i am haveing a really hard time right now in life the last time i talked to you i told you what was going on and that i couldn't wait to see you. with the trouble i was haveing at the time i couldn't come. i really wanted you to know that you were the only person in our famliy that i told everything too. and now i'm going through the toughest time in my life and the one person that i felt didn't judge me i can't talk to. mike i never asked you for anything when you were here you gave me enough... love, fun, advice... i didn't have to ask you did everything for me with out really doing anything. but i need you now i know you can hear my thoughts and all i'm asking is for your help. i know i really don't have to ask but i'm hurting so bad with all my emotions, i'm always stressed, worried, angry, frustrated, and aggitated. that even when i'm happy and things are ok for the moment i still think negatively. thats why i use to love visitin you... everything that was negative in my life would just dissapear and i wouldnt be worried anymore. i know your up there with grandmom cherrey looking down on me, and i wish you both would visit me and help me get though this and help me to live a better life, i'm litteraly sitting here thinking about whats going on right now and can't think of anything to help me. i know your probably busy meeting bob marley, and the rest of the beetles, but please come and visit me like i have always done for you, and help me like you use too, i feel i have know one else to turn to that wont judge me, i just need and want to know that no matter what you out of all the people i know will stand by my side and be there for me. if you can please help... here are some of the memories i have of you and have had with you:

i remember one thanksgiving me you and kera were sitting in "our living room" (the one by the front door) watching Tremors even though we all seen it like a million times (and till this day thats one of my favorite movies) but we were all sitting there watching and pealing potatoes for dinner, and just haveing fun.

i remember and don't be mad at me for ratting us out about smokeing ciggerettes. but some of the best times i had with you was telling our parents we were going to the store, when really all we wanted was a fug... if we didn't just walk up the street or duck over behind the garage, we would just ride around sometimes stopping at a store along the way and talk about everything that was going on with eachother and when we were done we would ride back with our hand out the window, cause you told me that would help get the smell off our hand. the one time me and you were on one of these little rides i asked you if i could drive, (and just to let you know i ment pull over and get out) and you said "ok grab the wheel" so i did (only cause you took your hands off and wouldn't put them back on after i told you too) and i drove perfectly all the way down the street from the passangers seat until we came to a sharp turn and you had to grab the wheel.

i remember the one time when we were all drinking with your friends, and me and you had went outside to talk (and smoke a fug). i can honestly say that was the first and i really think the only time i have ever seen you cry. and i remember standing there crying and hugging you. i don't know if it was just the alcohol but i do know that from that moment on we had a good time and me and you shared alot of thoughts and no one even knew we had been crying (for everyone that knows me after i cry for a second you can tell)

i remeber i stayed the night over your house with out kera one time, i couldn't have been more then 8 or nine. but we were staying up late watching some nickelodeon show i think it was called are you afraid of the dark or something. but the tv show showed short little scary movies. and this one in paticular was about this camera that when you took a picture a little gargoule type figure would show up in the picture and something bad would happen to the person you took the picture of. well as soon as it went off me and you started walking upstairs to your room cause we were really tired. as soon as we opened your door we ran screaming down the stairs to uncle bob. halloween just past and you had a stirophome gargoule up stairs and it looked exactly like the one in the show and we wouldn't go up stairs till uncle bob got it and hid it from us.

i remember comeing over for a holiday thing and you told me and my sister that the night before you had a party. you turned out the lights and turned on your black lights and showed us that everyone drew on your walls with high lighter and then you shined the blacklight on your face and with no exaderation you whole face was bright ass yellow. then you found a spot right over top of your bed where you lay your head at and kera drew a picture with flames and mushrooms. you said the mushrroms were the coolest part. and kera wrote all of our names in one of the flames. its still there, just faded a little.

one of my favorite memories was when i was in florida when me you and mark had fear and loathing in las vages on repeat the entire week, and i still to this day have never seen that movie from begining to end. and the time mark flicked on the light and said " hey you can't park your car here" i think we laughed for a really long time about that. oh and when you all were being retards and jj came down because you woke her up. she asked what you were doing and you both were trying to "drop kick" eachother in the knee.

another memory i have of you and grandmom cherrey is when we were all staying there for christmas, i think, but we woke up before everyone else and we tried to scare her by putting a rubber rat by her door. and went back in your room and played till she got up and when she screamed we ran out there laughing, now that i think about it i really don't think we scared her, ask her if we did. 

i have so many memories of you mike and i have always(even when you were here) talked about you to all of my friends. by the way gabby said "high" and i will always continue to talk about you. dont ever think for a second that anyone or everyone is going to forget you... your a hard person to forget, you have touch people in so many different ways that i know in my heart that if i aint talkin about you this day someone else is, and i'll be talking about you another day. tell grandmom i said hi and i love her and miss her too.

            love you lots,
Terror B.K.A. T, TT, or Tyera

I could write a journal with all the amazing things that have happened since you left us on Valentines day bro! I am so assured everytime that you are happy and looking down on us! Playing with my electronics, and just being there for me in general! I know you and my grandfather have setup something for me big in the future. I was sitting here trying to remember something really good to write about some of our memories, memories that would intrigue everyone who would read this page, and I am having to decide on so many good ones! One of the most surreal times of my life was when we had taken the Red Mustang down to key west. Its was me and you, no tagers along, just us! We talked about music, argued about guitar players, and I just remember talking about the universe that night, we had the most amazing view of the Florida keys highway 1 stars. Its like I could reach up and grab the milky way. It was so vivid, and when we got home we fired up the hot tub and continuted on the rants. I remember putting that Dave Mathews live CD in and just BLARING it for the last 20 minutes of the ride and just truely being in heaven, with my best friend, staring at the stars, and listening to Dave Mathews Band. It really sticks with me bro! Because of you I have had so many oppurtunities in my life that I never had before.

Thanks for the continued good times little brother!

Will Farrar

Dear Mike,
Though we only knew each other for a short period of time, I feel truly blessed to have met you and spent the time with you that I did.  You are an amazing person, and I was so happy that I met someone so awesome to hang out with.  I also couldn’t believe that we had so much in common- 23, just graduated college, business majors.  There aren’t many of us our age on this tiny island!   I will never forget that you are the person who taught me to play darts at the Hurricane, or taught us how to make those cool drinks you learned at bartending school.  I only wish that our time together wasn’t so short, and we could have had many more memories.  I will never forget you Mike, and I know that you are watching down on us.

Courtney Wright

Like many of Mike’s friends I have talked to, I have been battling with myself to find the courage to sit down and write my thoughts and memories of him. The difficulty isn’t in the content – hundreds of memories that make me smile to remember them – but in the simple act of opening the word document and continuing to write. As long as the document is closed, Mike is still in Florida with Dusti and Dr. Bob. Still getting ready for Austin. Still working on Lucid and a seemingly endless list of other projects. Still a phone call away.  Still a university vacation trip away.
 
      When I have the documents open, writing the stories for a memorial book that, no matter how much we write, will never fully reveal how full his life was, the pressure begin gathering. I try to ignore it, focus on writing, but it’s constantly pushing on my consciousness. The pressure carries the truth that no matter how hard I try to ignore reality – a fundamental piece of me is now gone.

      Recognizing that almost makes it easier, because in that feeling of loss I can truly realize just how important Mike was, and is, in my life. Mike was a constant in my life. Of course I can recall the most salient events, hills on the plains of memory. Skiing, with us slipping and falling and laughing down the beginner’s slope. Parties, where we would go upstairs to play video games just to get away from all the old people. The wedding, where he served as my Best Man and managed to be the highlight of both the ceremony (with a duck call) and the reception (with a song). A graduation dinner where Lucid was born. His graduation, Europe, Austin, New Orleans, Marathon, New Year’s, lacrosse, lobster hunting, and so many more.

      Those are the events that make a friend into a best friend, but Mike was still more than that. When I think of all the subtleties of our relationship I realize we were truly brothers. We were fiercely loyal to each other, willing to defend each other vehemently in public even if we felt the other was wrong. We always wanted the other to succeed, even if we wanted ourselves to do just as good. We disagreed, sometimes frequently, even if we knew we always forgive, forget, and move on a few minutes later.

      The brotherly competition is, I think, the thing that shaped our bond the most. As we aged and matured we began to recognize the never-ending competition for what it was – a tacit admission that we each had clear strengths and weaknesses. It was in that revelation that we found our greatest strength – each other. From that moment we seemed unstoppable, creating a vision for a company that combined his passion for music with my passion for technology into a company that would fundamentally change the music industry by being honest, transparent, and empowering.

      Even as Mike and I balanced ourselves, we always knew where the foundation of our friendship was – in the constant love and support of Dusti and Dr. Bob. Mike and I could not have been brothers were it not for Dusti and Bob truly being my second set of parents. From Dusti we drew on a seemingly never-ending well of emotional support. From Dr. Bob we learned how to be responsible adults as he worked endlessly, under a stern yet paternally loving gaze, to teach us how to be safe and smart (and always have a backup… everything!) in all that we did.  Saying that we love Mike goes hand-in-hand with saying that we love Dusti and Bob. They played such a pivotal role not only in Mike’s life, but in all our lives, that friendship and love is inseparable between the three.

      Thus, in our friendship and love with Mike’s parents, relatives, and endless list of friends who loved him – our love of Mike lives strong. He has impacted my life with his compassion, talent, drive, loyalty, and love so deeply and so often that I cannot separate myself from him, even if one day I will accept that he’s really gone. Instead I will live like he is always with us, always there as a moral compass and a logical sounding board. It won’t be difficult to remember his influence, as everyone of us who was close to Mike has had their hearts and minds shaped around him. Mike lives on in all of us and whenever I need him I just need to close my eyes and I can picture him smiling in the pool or strumming his guitar – and I know, deep down, what the right thing to do is.

Eddie Centofante

Jamming Part 1

My favorite activity for Mike and I to take part in was jamming. Mike on his Taylor and myself with the Martin! These instruments allowed us to entertain ourselves and others which was my passion in life but was Mikee’s meaning in life. He was truly meant for, that MUSIC!  When we’re playing together improvising each jam session being wonderful and unique in its own way,  a lot of what we play could sound strange, rough, out there, and occasionally mystical and magical. While digging through those rough jams often hours long at a time. When all of the sudden something as small as a change in rhythm or the cords and we are starting to get 'there', both of our eyes shut swaying to the music we start to mesh and then comes that magical moment and indescribable ecstasy. If only for a few seconds or minutes it makes all of the effort worthwhile. This Moment a spiritual connection bonds Mikee and I in a way I thought not possible. My Love for you is higher than that of a best friend, cousin, or even a brother. Every time I pick it up I miss you….and whenever I play your songs I can feel your life force coming out with every strum. I will continue to look for that moment only without you at my side but in my heart. Your teachings, styles and manners will continue to shape my hunt for that moment as well as my spirit in this precious time we have been given here. 

Chris Pirner

Mikee,

I have so many happy memories of times we shared while you were growing up.  You and your Mom and Dad came to Florida from Maryland on a regular basis, and I was so lucky to spend plenty of one-on-one time with you and your family.  I have always thought of you as a very special person.  You had a fun-loving way about you and were friendly and easy to get along with.  Even at an early age, you made friends easily.  I remember when you were around four-years-old and were staying at my house in Bonaventure.  The rule was you could play in the yard but were not allowed to cross the street.  One day, you noticed a little girl across the street digging in the dirt with a spoon.  You crossed the street to assist the little girl in her all-important digging project.  (You weren’t supposed to cross the street, Dude!!)   But, by doing so, you met your lifelong, best friend, Danielle.  What’s that old saying about rules???  Then a couple of years later, you crossed the street again, and presto . . . there came Crystal!!  What was up with you and all those “girly girls”?  You really had it goin’ on, didn’t you?

  I remember some of the things you liked and then, some of the things you didn’t like so much.  When you about three, my dog, Woody the Dalmatian, used to knock you down and lick you clean (didn’t like).  The dog loved you, but you thought he was attacking because he was bigger than you!  Bourbon Chicken at the Cajun place in the Sawgrass Mall was your favorite (loved it).  I thought we were going to live there.  Poking your belly relentlessly like The Pillsbury Dough Boy (hated it).  All these years, I thought you liked it, but found out recently that you hated it!  Sorry about that, my bad!!  The Filet Mignons with honey and soy sauce that you had to have every time you visited (loved it).  Roller blading around Markham Park and forcing you to go around the entire park (this could go either way).  I remember when you were about nine, we spent a weekend together in Washington, D.C.  I was traveling for business and had a really nice room at the Hyatt.  You slept on the floor the whole weekend because the room had a king-size bed and you said, “Uncle Jamie, Men don’t sleep together.”  Even though you were tired from not sleeping well on the floor, we had a great weekend touring D.C. with Uncle Catfish.  I was so lucky to spend many Christmas and Thanksgivings with you.  My God, did you guys like Florida!!  I loved having you stay at my house every time you came to visit.  As you got older, we were able to share numerous Miami Dolphin tailgate parties together.  You sure did win over my friends!  They loved you!!  One Thanksgiving, we deep fried a turkey together (that is until you disappeared and left me hanging).  Of course, I seem to remember a story that your Dad told me about a fire breaking-out when you previously tried to fry a turkey – so maybe it’s a good thing that you left.  We co-owned a boat together and just last Christmas, got a GPS from your parents, as they were worried that we may get lost one day and end up in Cuba.  (By the way, I know you didn’t refill the gas tank the last time you used the boat!)  I will miss you, Mikee.

Now I want to share my favorite Mikee memory.  He was five- years- old and the family was visiting me in Florida.  We went to the Hollywood Greyhound Track one Friday night.  I grabbed Mikee by the hand before one of the races and said, “Let’s bet on this race, Mikee.”  We went down to watch the dogs parade before the race, and I asked Mikee which dog he wanted to bet on.  Like most five-year-olds, he was completely indecisive about choosing a dog.  I told him that we would bet on Number 3.  Mikee was like, “Ya Ya Number 3, Number 3!!”  I placed money on Number 3 and we went back to our seats to watch the race.  Sure enough, Number 3 won!!  Mikee was so excited!!  I grabbed his hand and took him to the cashier.  I was totally psyched that I was going to be able to give my nephew the winnings!  We gave our ticket to the cashier and were handed back around $7.00.  I turned to give the money to Mikee, and he looked at me with big sad eyes and said, “Uncle Jamie, Don’t we get the dog?”  That was so cute!! 

I am going to write these final words, so they will be easy for you to read Mikee:   I EVOL UOY DNA LLIW REVEN TEGROF UOY!!  ECAEP TUO!!

Love,  Uncle Jamie