Mike and I had similar temperaments in that we were fanciful, whimsical people. He sometimes showed an unusual sense of humor as you can see in the above picture, snapped at Fairfax Memorial Gardens. Looking back on this photo now, it does not seem so humorous! This was taken Sunday, May 18th. Little did we suspect that we were soon to be engulfed in a Hurricane called Depression.

This was destined to be the last photo I ever took of my friend. It was late July in Rutherford Park. Even though he was worried about not feeling up to par, Mike's melancholy had not yet hit full force. When summer turned the corner to August, we spent most of our times visiting doctors and hospital emergency rooms as Mike's health deteriorated and his insomnia grew intolerable to him. Nobody seemed to have any answers except to call it "male menopause" or "midlife crisis".

He gave up his music, neither listening to it nor playing it.

Everyone who cared about Mike (and there were lots of people) tried to pull him out of his downward spiral...