"Rock On"!

Michael passed away in our Los Angeles home on Friday, February 8, at 1:48pm. With him were his mother and sister Kathleen, our friend Doug and I. He was surrounded by love and his exit from this life was just the way he wanted it – PDQ! On all levels, he was ready to go.

I was truly never looking forward to the day that I would be logging on to Michael’s blog so that I could communicate messages to the world about this wonderful human being, but today I find myself carrying out all of Michael’s wishes. And although I may not write as creatively and beautifully as Michael has when creating this blog, I am going to give it my best shot by expressing only some of the wonderfulness that this man shared with everyone.

For Michael, the glass was always full and he lived a life of possibility with a commitment to living life like it’s never been before. When you have that kind of intention, it opens you up for a life of excitement and one full of adventure. And I must tell you that my 11 years with Michael was just that! -- exciting, adventurous, never boring and always evolving! Michael believed in learning about the world by seeing it and his passion for travel got him to many far-away places that I am fortunate to have shared with him.

Michael had this unique ability to love that came so deep from the bottom of his heart that it almost created this angelic glow when he smiled. With his beautiful blue eyes and his bright smile, it melted the hearts of many, including mine. I have been forever blessed to have been loved by him because I truly believe you only get one love that can shake you to your core or one where there is a meeting of the souls so that each can love and support one another in order to grow individually and together as a couple. Michael was an extremely generous man who would give anything just to feel love in return. Michael believed that love has the ability to conquer all.

After Michael’s last entry right before he left Pittsburgh, he wrote much about his family and I wanted to post a response to it, but time slipped away once he returned to LA. When comparing my family to Michael’s family, it’s like the Sopranos visiting Walton Farm. The Emery family, which consists of many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and great aunts, is one of the most loving, caring and simple families I have ever come to know. They’re intelligent, they’re witty, and they are family in the truest definition of the word. It has and always will be an honor to be in their warm presence.

Even in Michael’s last hour, he shared his great sense of humor with us once again. With his body failing and weak, we had to move him from a recliner to the bed so that we could lay him on his side in order for him to breathe easier. At that point I was afraid it would be my body that would be failing and weak, so together with Doug, Kathleen and I, we picked up the thick blanket underneath Michael and on the count of three we flung him up onto the bed. Happy that he did not have to get out of the chair and onto the bed in the traditional way, once he landed on the bed, with his arm in the air and fist clenched, he blurted out, “Rock On”!

And so to our many friends, family and readers of this site, I hope that you have found this man to be as inspirational as I have and that you’ll always remember that no matter whatever you may be presented with in your life, please remember Michael's philosophy and his final words of wisdom: Live, Love and “ROCK ON”!