In Remembrance of Mike

  In a small Illinois town they call Newman,
A person took over a grocery store that had a new plan.
His Name was Mike, he was quite a friendly guy,
He'd talk with anyone -- he never was shy.
He worked hard every day taking a store that had gone down,
And made it a great business in our small country town.
Hours and hours Mike kept his nose to the grindstone,
And made sure folks had quality food to take home.
He was a great guy--he and I were close friends,
I knew his wife and his children.
When I went to the hospital for my Bi Polar condition,
He gave my wife a job, an important position.
She and I lived together with our kids by the store,
She walked about twenty feet to work at his business next door.
Seriously, I don't know what our family would have done,
If he hadn't given Sheli that position.
Mike was a wise man; he was full of wit,
He had a sense of humor, he and I made a hit.
We discussed our beliefs and concepts of life,
Mike's belief in God was a sharp as his knife.
I saw his son in Christman one day,
He told me his father was in a bad way.
With tears in our eyes we discussed his disease,
It was internal cancer with no way to cease.
I said,  "Tell your father I am thinking of him,
and how he had been such a wonderful friend."
Shortly thereafter Mike passed away,
And our town lost a great man who worked hard every day.
I saw Mike's son today in a store and I said I wrote his father a poem.
It's just a few words for a beautiful friend that's now made his way home.