michaelmyprince

I stayed to watch him go inside and when he opened the door he first looked inside and behind the door then slipped in, leaving the door open, and I could see him looking all around turning on lights, then he came back and waved me on, closing the door. I stayed there for at least 20 minutes not really knowing why but just that paternal instinct that things weren�t quite right.

The next day we learned that Michael had hitched a ride to the coast during the night. The people he found to stay with said he could stay 3 days so on the 3rd day he called his Aunt in Oregon who in the middle of the night got in her van and drove the 300 miles to pick him up and return home. This was the 18th of July, 2001.

On the way back home Kim gave him the �rules of the house�. No drugs, no alcohol, needed to find a job and would have to pay rent.

Michael abided by these rules�all of them. He loved it there and soon found a job working in a deli at the local grocery store and started paying rent.

THE LITTLE UNICORN
By Peggy Kociscin

There lived a little unicorn
(From when the earth was new);
His coat so white it glistened,
His eyes a sparkling blue.

In innocence and beauty
He danced through woods and streams;
The animals danced with him,
His heart aglow with dreams.

He laughed and played with rainbows,
So happy all day through;
He loved to kiss the flowers
As their petals shone with dew.

He wandered through the meadows,
In the moon's soft, silver light;
He loved to gaze at all the stars
That lightened up the night.

He listened to the music of
The birds that graced the trees;
He frolicked with the butterflies,
And raced the gentle breeze.

But as he grew and learned of life
The sparkle in his eye
Grew misty as he realized
Just what it means to cry.

He learned that there were shadows,
In spite of shining sun:
The more he grew, he found that life
Was never always fun.

For now he'd learned of feelings
That come from deep within;
No longer in the "dream world"
Where (for so long) he'd been.

His gentle heart desired but
To know the pleasure of
To give and to receive the very
Precious gift of love.

To love meant happiness, and yet
It also brought him pain;
For those he loved could hurt him
Again, and yet again.

His mother'd held him lovingly
And tried to ease his fears
About the sadness life could bring,
The lonely, bitter tears.

She'd said, "Life is like a mountain,
(And, surely this is true);
That we must climb as best we can,
There's no `around' or `through'."

The unicorn tried tirelessly,
And gave the climb his best;
He felt it was not good enough,
He felt he'd failed the test.

He could not understand it when
He felt himself rejected,
When all his gentle being asked
Was but to be accepted.

All this was just too much for him,
He knew not what to do;
That he was special as himself
Somehow, he never knew.

His spirit crushed, he felt defeated.
Lonely tears would start;
Not understanding how to love,
It simply broke his heart.

But now he's in a loving place
Where all his pain has ceased;
Where all accept him and his love,
Where all he knows is peace.

A loving Being tells him,
"You're delightful, as you are;"
His spirit free, his brilliance now
Outshines the brightest star.

That Sept 5th he turned 21 and Barb and I got in the car and drove the 6 hours down to celebrate his birthday. He got so many nice things and by all appearances he was a very happy person. This was to be the last time I would see him alive.

Meanwhile, Barb cleaned out his apartment and found a suicide note he had written.
I have never seen this note, but was told that in the note he said he couldn�t do it because it would hurt his Mom and Grandma.

At Christmas time I had hoped to get down but the icy weather kept us all at home that year so I shipped his gift down to him.

For some reason he chose not to return to Ellensburg again. Kim and Scott came up often over that year and always invited Mike to come with them, but he said he wasn�t ready to come and we didn�t encourage him. He was clean and sober and we were all elated about that. He knew the drugs were here and he chose to stay where it was �safe� for him. He chose his friends with care, drugs were not an option.

We wrote and talked on the phone. He changed jobs in the spring. He became certified as a nurses assistant in a lovely nursing/rehab center. He had a calming way about him around the patients. At his services many spoke about his wonderful way with his patients and how with one woman he would read the Bible to her every night.

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