As we get close to the second year without Mikey I feel I should ask the question What would Mikey do? The reason for this is as I plan and work on events, dedications, honoring, remembering, and time I have had several say to me you don’t have to do all this. My answer has been and will continue to be, if not me who? Which one of you will step up and do these things? They say to me you have time you don’t have to do it all now. I put a post about time and love but as far as time goes I believe that we are of two thoughts 1. you have all the time in the world or 2. there is never enough time. For my family the sudden leaving of Mikey as shortened time. As a lot of you know my parents are over 70, I’m over 50, and time is not on our side. My dad as had a couple of heart issues and my mom has been so bad the past six months I wonder daily if I get a call that she’s gone. But besides we’re getting older and life is short. I have all Mikey’s things to go through, sort out, pass on… then one day sooner rather than later I will have my parents things. So I ask you if things were different and your close loved one passes and Mikey was here What would he do? I say he would stand next to that person and say I will do anything you want. Here’s a good example……. One of Mikey’s best friend Joey, his sister passed the July before Mikey, Joey or Sandy (Joey’s mom) I’m not sure now who asked Mikey to host a celebration/benefit and Mikey redid his schedule so he could. I can’t remember who he was working with Cole(Educated Consumers) or Cody(Sadistik) but he brought them with. Not only was Mikey missing his friend (Joey was unable to attend) and the passing of someone he had known a good share of his life. The family ask will you help and he moved everything to do it. ……. That’s what Mikey did do. How many times did some of you call(personal and professional) and he dropped everything to help you. I could tell by the way he looked who was asking what of him and yes this includes me and my family. Mikey would do most things in his power to help people in what ever they dreamed, wanted, planned. So as we move into another year without him, time has moved us each father away from his direct influence I ask you to think What would Mikey do? When your family, loved ones, friends, acquaintances, come to you and ask for help. Before you answer just think about what has been done for you, what would your inspiration (Mikey) do, then answer. Now more to the direct (selfish) reason I do what I do. In our family we have a great age difference. There are those of us who had been adults since Mikey was a baby. We have more memories, more time, more pictures, with him than the young ones in our family. I mean young from 4 to 17 yrs of age they have very limited memories, pictures of Mikey. Then there is many generations to come who know very little or nothing of him. So all these different kinds of things public and private provide my family a way of knowing that as we each leave there will be things our young ones will remember connecting them to Mikey. I stood at the house the week of the first B-day celebration and said I wanted to only do one event a year for the next five or so years. I figured by then others would pick up the torch and I could move. I have also said to many that within this five years I wanted to put some of the business things Mikey had put down on paper into actions. Now this has been some what unrealistic I’m unable to give full attention to so many things. I don’t think I can say Thank you enough to all you fans who share your stories, spread Mikey’s music and support the posts, projects, and vents from me. I do want to say thanks to all the artist who came to that 1st celebration at 1st ave., those who came to the park, and those who will becoming this year. Rest assured next year I’ll be putting out some of Mikey’s music instead. (Your off the hook) The help from RSE to put that on, I would of gone crazier than I did, the city and parks for all the help with the dedication, all the contributors to the park to have a place were we can go for basically forever to be close, and those who have worked on the up coming celebration in Nov.
Now to this up coming date Oct 16th. I have asked people to light something lamp, fire, candle in honor of those we miss. Take a moment to say I miss you and remember the light that they were to you.
Love
Kathy
I really liked your message in this, Kathy. I can’t say I miss your son as much as the person who birthed him (You) but, I can say that like every other great musician that has come and gone, your son really gives me inspiration. Not so much on the level of what he accomplished but, on the ever subtle things that life can bring. Every change or problem is a new wave of experience that life will consistently bring until you pass. And listening to Mikey along with all of his friends he spit with helps me remember that there can always be more to accomplish, always a person to be helped, always a little more you can give. It’s hard doing so much and trying to be good at it all, that’s why if you fall, you have to get back on those feet and stand tall. Let them see you struggle, let them hide their pain by projecting it onto you. But, I know that you can do it because you and your son are the shit.
I also wanted to apologize, for I was rude to you in the past. Me and my friend actually met you the night of the carnage show. He was the smaller guy, totally pale white with, white hair. We were standing next to the frogger vid and you guys were talking about the upcoming Bigshots show at highland you gave him a few insider bits on who was gonna be there. I never really acknowledged you and I felt very bad after words when my friend told me that it was “you”, Eyedea’s mom, Kathy. I am sorry for making you feel uncomfortable if I did. My mind was else where most of the night. That’s just an excuse to cover up my selfishness of not being more personable so, for that, I am sorry.
Mikey’s music will always have a direct influence on my life. He may be gone but his words and eyedeas let me know I wasn’t alone with my thoughts and feelings. He was an amazing artist, I wish I had the opportunity to know him personally. He never knew, but his impact on my life had exponentially helped me for the better and that, I need to thank you and him for that. On the 16th, There will be a candle lit for Mikey and one lit for you as well in Columbia, SC.
Love,
Steve
It’s the 16th today, and it’s raining over here in Bosnia. I’m happy and grateful for this sign.
Thank you so much kathy.
It is amazing how you put in so much effort to keep mikey’s legacy going.. it’s exactly what he would have wanted.
A friend of mine showed me Eyedea, the first song I ever heard was “Even Shadows Have Shadows”. That song reached out to me in a way that music hadn’t before. It was like listening to the thoughts I think and I remember the reassuring thoughts of, “I’m not the only one out here that thinks about this shit, I’m not going crazy”. Since then, Eyedea’s music has always been unbelievably influential to me, and has been like a mentor to me when my head’s been lost with questions and I ask for answers. “By the Throat”, the entire album, is unlike anything I ever heard and the words he speaks do not fail to make me cry. They remind me of the people I love, the people I lost, and make me remember to apreciate what I have because every waking moment is a precious gift if you spend it positively. I wish I had the opportunity to meet Micheal, the way his mind works along with his intelligence, he verbalizes emotions I constantly feel but can’t bring to words & I think he is a person everyone can learn something from. Truly a role model human being. Kathy, thank you for allowing him to share his gifts with the world, and with his words he will forever be infinite.
I am a huge fan of Mikey’s music and I can never seem to find the words I want to, to explain how much he’s helped and affected me. I look through these comments that people leave you and the comments on videos of him and I can see so many other people who were greatly influenced by him and I think it’s incredible that he was able to help so many people.
I try to give back what Mikey’s given to me by doing small things like encouraging my friends and doing what I love (writing) and hopefully sharing some of it to the world someday. The thing is, I just wish I could help you with what you do in keeping your son’s memory alive. I didn’t discover Mikey until about a year after his death and I so badly wanted to go to the events but I couldn’t find ways to get to them.
I’ve been going back in forth in my mind, whether or not to reach out to you with this idea I have, and I decided I would, because I want to help keep Mikey’s memory alive and you never really know unless you reach out.
Like I said before, I’ve seen so many comments on how Mikey influenced people and helped them out and I think it would be cool to put together a type of book like himselves but poems from his fans and letters to Mikey or to you or just stories about how Mikey affected people and put it all together in a way that says not only what he’s done for us and how he’s affected us but how it’s possible for us to live up to the kinds of potential Mikey did.
I get the feeling that Mikey didn’t necessarily want to be idolized but he wanted to inspire people to live up to the potential that they have in themselves. I think though that a lot of people just idolized him like he was something better than they are and I always felt like that wasn’t what he wanted.
I think it would be awesome to use what Mikey did for people as a way of empowering others to live up to that. If it was written in that kind of way, like we could all live up to that kind of potential Mikey did, it could be inspiring to people who’ve never even heard of him.
Anyways that’s just an idea I’ve been thinking of and I would love to be able to create or help create something like this. The only way I could think of starting something like this was through contacting you and seeing your opinion on it and things like that.
If you have any opinions on this or would be interested in doing something like this please email me. Like I said I would be willing to take the wheels and do most of the work on this or play any type of part in creating something like this.
I don’t know how you feel about me, as a stranger, coming to you with this kind of thing but if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me.
Regardless I’d like to hear your opinion on this.
I just thought it would be cool to show people how much you can affect the people around you and inspire them and I know Mikey was all about inspiring people to live up to the potential they have within themselves.
Thank you for reading. I hope everything is well with you and your family.
Francesca