≡ Final Words
Folks,
Todd and I have a few things to say before we stop posting here. As Todd mentions, we’re going to leave the last few posts since Mike’s death here so you can read the condolences and rememberances. Then, after a week or so, Mike’s web master, Steven, will archive those posts for posterity but the site will appear as Mike left it when he died. This was his home on the web and, like bad company, I’ve overstayed my welcome.
First, here’s Todd:
so matt had this great idea for us to post one final post here on mike’s blog to sorta settle up and then, after a week or so, remove these last non-mike posts and leave mike’s entire blog–archived and all–up indefinitely, as part of his legacy, so that mike will live on.i love that.so, here is our final post. i’d like to thank all of you–ALL OF YOU–who posted their comments and ‘e’d us and left myspace messages, who sent their thoughts and prayers, sympathies and condolensces–i cannot tell you how much that love and that support helped us all.thank you.
funny–or spooky–, mike and i were talking just a few months ago about all the projects we had in the cooker, all the stories we wanted to tell. he said that he had been a bit down thinking that he wanted to leave a nice legacy and that it had been his brother
matt who reminded him of tellos. matt told him that tellos alone was so much more than anyone could ask for from a lifetime.
we were both very proud of tellos.
and i’m sure that’s where he is now.
todd
elizaville
aug 22 2K7
Me again.
I’ve just lost the coolest big brother ever and I’m going to miss him more than I can express. He was young, healthy and had such wonderful things ahead of him, just over the horizon. And it would be so easy for me to get angry right now. Mike and I both inherited that hair-trigger Wieringo temper. I still have it. But something happened with Mike when he started drawing comics. Either it was achieving his lifelong dream or meeting so many wonderful people like Todd and Craig. Maybe it was just his amazing empathy for other creatures. But he got rid of the temper. He became the gentle soul we’ve come to know the last fifteen years or so.
So, though I could easily give in to the oh-so-tempting urge to put my fist through a wall right now, I won’t. I’m gonna do what Mike would do. I’m going to laugh a little, cry a little (or a lot, actually) and hug Charlie and Toonces and my family. And let the anger go. As someone else said in a tribute, I’m going to be like Mike.
If this horrible tragedy, and that’s what it is, has taught me anything, it’s that the old cliche, “life’s too short”, is a cliche for a reason. If there’s someone you love, tell them you love them every day. Quit putting off that phone call and just do it. If there are friends you’ve lost touch with, reach out. If you’ve hurt someone or they’ve hurt you, ask for forgiveness and forgive. Be good to others and to yourself. Get that check up. Eat healthier. Exercise. If your job is causing you stress, find another one that you love. And learn to love each other a little more. Because life IS too short. In fact, life, it seems, is shorter for some than for others.
I want to again thank everyone, Mike’s friends and his fans, for all the support and all the donations to the ASPCA and the Hero Initiative. So many folks have been so wonderful and helpful, I can’t single out too many because I’d forget some. But the shining lights have been Todd and Craig for their support and friendship to Mike and now his family. Mike’s web master, Steve, for allowing us to post here and keeping the site going under trying circumstances. Scott Cates of MothComix for showing class under pressure. Andrew and Vanessa at Chapel Hill Comics for coming through for us when they were dealing with their own tragedy. Shelton Drum of Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find for making Mike part of his family and going out of his way to help us. Richard Case, Randy Green and Mike’s buddy Glenora for checking on us and Charlie. Cully Hamner, Jeff Parker, Scott Kurtz, Mark Waid, Jamar Nicholas, Rich Faber, Traci Wagner and Chris (“Kempliiiiiitzzzz!”) Kempel and a hundred other people who called my brother their friend and proved it with heartfelt rememberances online or at the service. To my friends, Christian, Don, Marvin and Paul just for being there.
Most of all, thank you to Mike’s fans. You bought his books, you enjoyed his art and you’ve always shown class here at Mike’s blog. This was the friendliest place on the internet and I looked forward to coming here every other day to see Mike’s newest sketch and read your comments. I’ll really miss that. And to the fan that placed Mike’s artwork up and down the street outside the service…the unexpected rain may have washed away your efforts, but they weren’t in vain. We know about it and it touched us deeply. Thank you.
Take care of yourselves and if you want to keep in touch with me or Todd or Craig, we’re on the web. I don’t kid myself that anyone came to my blog for any other reason than I’m Mike’s brother. But I’d still like to hear from you. Soon, this site will be as Mike left it, looking forward to great things. He was taken much too young. But he dreamed big and he achieved those dreams.
How many of us can truly say that?
Mafus
August 23, 2007