Dear Mike💛

Mike,

There are some people in life whose presence becomes woven into the heart of a family forever — and you are one of those people.

Your strength, your compassion, your ability to walk into a room and instantly make it feel lighter, warmer, safer… that was a gift. You carried a way about you that made people feel comfortable just being themselves. You could make us laugh until our stomachs hurt, poke fun at all of us around the dinner table, and somehow turn the simplest nights into the memories we hold onto forever.

I still think about those family dinners where we could sit for hours talking about absolutely anything. The card games, the banter back and forth, the teasing, the laughter echoing through the room. Those moments felt endless at the time, and now I realize how incredibly special they truly were.

You taught me something so important, even though it came at the heartbreaking and unexpected cost of losing you. Life is so fragile. Nothing is promised. Not the next day, the next phone call, the next text, the next visit, the next laugh, the next conversation, the next “I’ll see you soon.”

Loosing you taught me how fragile life truly is, but the extreme heart ache of loosing you also taught me to live life as fully as you can in the present moment. Love harder, laugh louder, hold the right people closer, and as cliche and corny as it sounds never take a day for granted. Your loss left a hole that will never be filled, but it also left behind a reminder to keep living, even through painful times, because life can change in a moment. You have silently taught me to tell the people in my life that I hold close that they matter. To bring kindness and joy into the lives around us whenever possible. To stop taking the little moments for granted, because those little moments eventually become the biggest ones we carry.

Your absence is felt deeply, but so is your impact Mike. The lasts of everything we shared and had are pertinent to me. You never realize while living a moment one day could become the last for that.

And now those pieces mean everything. I replay them in my mind, I have screenshots of the last messages we have together, I look at our photos together more often, and hold onto every detail because its all connected to us.

I miss you more than words could ever explain, but I carry pieces of you with me every single day — in laughter, in family gatherings, in card games, from our weekly chats, the way we could talk about anything and everything, our inside jokes, our cabin lake clay spas for our moms back when we were kids, and that shared love for owls we’ve had since we were younger… those are the things I find myself holding onto the most. The little things that now I can see were truly never really little to begin with but took the unimaginable to show the true in depth importance. I have some very vivid memories of our childhood together, from the family reunion at Grandma Sophie and Grandpa Fred's, to being kids swimming outside in such cold temperatures and our moms watching underneath umbrellas, rain coats and blankets calling us nuts, to when you and your mom came and spent lots of a summer here with my mom and I, we did so much, we travelled all around Manitoba, spent time at the cabin and had such a memorable summer. The last in person memory I have with you, you Tyler and I were sitting outside at Uncle Len and Aunty Sandys place, we had just finished a big family supper you and Tyler had prepared. We were all together, we feasted, we were all stuffed and the 3 of us were just having a drink outside - which I remember being a Gin and Tonic for you and I, and when we were making them everyone asked us how we liked that cause it tasted like a Christmas tree to them and it was gross haha! The family was doing dishes, packing away the left overs and getting the table ready for game night! You Ty and I were sitting outside on the front porch, chatting, laughing and just being cousins, then I remember your mom coming to the glass front door saying "we are ready Mikey, Ty and Shelby" and for some reason I remember shooting up from my chair, laughing and making a joke about "bring it on" in a cousin love and going in and playing "313" for hours. A simple, meaningless memory, but to me so important!

We had a bond that came from understanding - through the good, the hard, and everything in between, We have always been close, but there was a bond unknown to everyone else around us from our relatable chapter in the past. A kind of connection that doesn’t just disappear, even now. I carry that with me every single day in stories, and in the reminder to appreciate life while we have it.

I feel you in the quiet moments, in the chaos, in the ups and the downs of life. Some days are heavier than others, but I keep going knowing a part of you is still with me in everything I do. Your last handwritten message to me is something I will hold onto forever. Having it now permanently on me in ink means I get to carry a piece of you with me wherever I go. It’s a reminder of you, of us, and of a connection that time or loss can never take away. I miss you, Mike. I love you more than I ever got the chance to say enough.

There’s so much I still want to share with you - so many moments, there has been so many ups and downs and man do I ever wish I could tell you in person. I catch myself thinking about what you’d say, what we’d laugh about, how you’d understand me in a way no one else quite could, that's that cousin bond! I had an add pop up the other day that said something on the lines of how AI can put a photo of a missed loved one together in the "current day". I thought Id give it a shot, I had a good laugh cause we look very airbrushed and "perfect" but, then smiled and had happy tears streaming down my face! Even though we look GQ magazine worthy, no wrinkles, no lines and so flawless haha, its me beside you, which I haven't had since 2020. I wish it was real, I wish we had an up to date photo together, but this will have to do for now, and it brings me happy tears and a huge smile imagining you and I laughing over the photo and how we look!

I hope you can see us all from up there, especially your mom! I know without a doubt you’re watching over her every single day, protecting her and staying close in all the ways you can. I just want you to know I’m making sure your mom, and for me my Aunty Liz, still gets recognition from me on all the special days from down here too. I believe we have formed a very extra special, unique bond in such heartbreaking circumstances. We keep each other updated on things and support each other on things in how we can! I know how much she means to you, and I want you to know I’m doing what I can from down here too — checking in, celebrating her, making sure she feels loved from here too! You are her guardian angel Mike.

Nothing will ever take away the loss of you. I know there’s a piece of our hearts that left with you, and I know there’s no replacing your presence, your laughs, your love, or the way you lit up every room you walked into. But I hope somehow it brings you peace knowing your mom has people around her who care deeply and want to help carry some of that love forward for you. I know you’re still with her and us every day. In signs, memories, songs, quiet moments, and all the little things that make us think of you.

Mike, thank you for being such a beautiful light in all of our lives. Your physical presence was short lived here but made a gigantic impact then and currently. I hope you knew and know just how loved you truly were and still are.

Until the day we can share our thoughts in person with you again or a non AI GQ worthy photo together … I hope you’re at peace. I hope you’re resting easy with that huge contagious smile on your face, watching down like I know you are over the people who love you so much! With a Gin and Tonic in hand. Miss you endlessly, cuz. Keep watching over all of us, Ill carry you with me always. Family forever ❤️

A bit of the words that are inked on me from you and mean so much - "Never Neglect Love"

Love you Mike forever and always!

Shelby xo