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This is Mike and I at our High School graduation.
This is me, Mike, and our friend Max at the graduation.
This is the three of us in Florida on Spring Break a few years ago.
Here is a friend named Jon, Mike, myself, and Chad at Mike's 21st birthday party.
This "sketch" was from one of the last times I saw Mike. It's the last way that I'll remember
him. I knew Mike for somewhere around 16 years. We've been best friends ever since, even though I sometimes never
said so. I never imagined that I would lose a friend so close to me so early on in life, nor did I ever think it would
be him. I'll never forget the great times that I shared with him and that we shared with others. I saw him change
a lot over the years, and I'm glad to say that I've changed in ways because of him. I hope one day I will be able to
see him again and that I can thank him for all that he's been to me and all that's he's done for me. He's a great guy,
and a great friend, and he will be missed.
Michael L. Hawk Jr. (1981-2003)
I just thought I'd write a bit about knowing Mike over the years. It's Monday right now, and at the
time that I'm writing this it was a year ago last Tuesday that he died...
When I first moved here from Florida, Mike was one of my first friends. We were in Kindergarden together.
I don't remember a whole lot about that year, though. He and I were in the same classes together up until 4th grade.
We used to hang out during recess with another friend of ours and play Super Mario Brothers, but not the game (we pretended
we were Mario, Luigi and the others). We didn't always hang out together, but for the most part the three of us were
always together.
After 4th grade, we both drifted apart a bit. The school that most of my classmates went to was overcrowded,
so I had to go to another one for 5th grade. Once, my class and I did end up going to that school and (oddly enough)
we ended up visiting the exact class that Mike happened to be in. So I hung out with him and talked with the two classes
watched a movie. Then, in 6th grade I was able to go back to the same school as he was. At first, we didn't really
talk a whole lot. Usually sat at different tables with different groups of friends. In 7th grade we started hanging
out and talking a lot more. Our groups of friends ended up melding together and we all usually sat together at lunch
and whatnot. It was during this time that both of us had our certain dislikes for each other, and those usually came
out in some ways or another (playing tricks on each other, etc.). I actually feel pretty bad about that now, but he
knew about all this. In 8th grade we drifted a bit still, but actually ate lunch with the same groups of friends, again.
And eventually we started talking and hanging out even more. And continued to do so for the years after that, for the
most part. We actually had quite a few really stupid arguments over the years, as well. A lot of which I feel
bad for, but some of which I'm sure he felt pretty bad for afterwards.
We ended up riding to high school together and home pretty much everyday. And on the days we
were in the same lunch, actually hung out and ate lunch together. When we were able to start going out for lunch at
school, we both always went to McDonald's (the same one I work at now, actually) and either ate there or got our food and
went back to his house to play games or watch TV, or to some other place to hang out until our lunch was over. We were
able to do this because we actually had an hour and a half lunch.
We've talked about a lot of things with each other. He was there when I first came out to people.
I actually told he and our friend Allen at Mike's house. I remember he and Allen asking me why I've been acting so weird
lately, so I ended up telling them both that night. I honestly don't know how he first felt about that, and don't remember
if I ever asked him or not. I don't think either of them really felt all that comfortable with it at first, but ended
up coming to terms with it. And realized that I was the exact same person they always knew. We both shared a lot
of things with each other. Told me about his girlfriend and how he felt with her and whatnot and talked with me about
how he felt when she got pregnant. And I talked with him about the guys that I liked and how I felt for them and whatnot.
We both had a really difficult time accepting life sometimes, and I think that brought us closer together
because we were able to talk about it and how we hoped things got better for us and such. I feel bad that after his
life started getting better (was going to get married, had a kid on the way, etc.) that he ended up dying. I really
hate the idea that life can be so cruel sometimes...
That's all for now. I'll update this as I see fit, and I'll inform you of any updates I have.
Cingular
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