This may seem a little choppy as I'm covering a lot of ground.

Mike's personality always drew people to him. There as never a shortage of new friends. Mike could meet people putting gas in his boat by yelling "any luck?" to anyone who might have just left the lake.

There was a comfort about Mike, a certain laid-back calmness which surrounded him. One of the many times Mike and I were on Lake Allatoona fishing. Mike snapped his head around while setting the hook, his eyeglasses went flying into the water. Without pause he looked at the splash from the glasses and with the fish still on the line laughed and said,"oops, that aint good" then landed the fish.

He and I were on Lake Burton in North Georgia when a thunderstom overtook us on the open water. We'd had a few beers. There wasnt much wind but you could feel the electricity in the air. Mike was the first one to mention his rod buzzing in his hand when casting. I noticed it too but we were on 'em ( fish ) so we stayed and reefed 'em in. We just got an order of Sparkle-tail lures and they were working!

While cleaning fish that night we figured it was the lightning looking for a place to strike.

Those other days when real storms tried to keep us off the lake we played Tecmo Bowl video football and scanned the radar. We would watch Beavis and Butthead over and over laughing untl we couldn't breathe. The day would just fly by.  

Mike was never in a hurry. He always seemed content. Very strong work ethic. Good man, father, son, uncle, brother, hunter, fisherman. Laughed from his soul loudly and without hesitation. You always just want to hang around him.

I don't speak of this often: there are two times I've felt embraced by God in my life. First was when I heard Nick's voice for the first time on the day he was born. The second was on the lake with Mike, when a fog rolled in so thick you lost sight of the shore. Sounds slowly muffled and went silent as if in respect. Mike and I sat in the moment not saying a word. I'm not sure how much time passed - we didnt speak until we heard another boat motor.

Now I picture Mike in an open field on the edge of a lake throwing a red Kong toy to his German Shpeherd Travis and Nick's dog Tripp while his mom Millie watches. Mike will check on us by telling Travis to "watch him" ( he'd always laugh, saying that to get Travis on alert and growl ).

When he's not checking on us it's because the fish are biting somewhere and he's nailin' 'em.

I'll miss you Mike.