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Micah leading the singing of the girl's team's fight song.
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It's been more than a decade since the terrible
day our beloved son, Micah died. I did CPR for 30 minutes while waiting
for the ambulance and couldn't bring him back. It was the worst day of my life and I've
had plenty of bad days. Sheila and I got through that day but it feels
strange. It doesn't seem like more than a decade since we last heard him drive up
in the driveway after work and burst through the front door looking for
something to eat. In many ways our lives fell apart
in the aftermath - Sheila's illness, our jobs went away, we lost our
home, moved far from our families, passed through poverty, homelessness,
our other son sick and in prison because of it. We lost most everything
of worldly value that we have worked for.
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Gray day at the beach - Micah scooping up the ocean with a fork.
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And here we stand, trusting in God
that all things do, in fact, work together for good to them that love
God. The devil doesn't like anyone who passes through the fire and
clings to their faith in spite of it. Our daughter and son-in-law,
however, are pillars of the church and are doing well. Sheila's health
is stabilized. It doesn't mean the challenges are done, but we face them
trusting in Jesus. We can do nothing else here at the world's end, save
stand and fight. Thank you all for your many prayers and your wonderful
support in our hours of need. We love you all and pray for you
constantly. God bless you all. Here are a couple of stories friends sent me about Micah. They give me courage.
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Micah & Jordan in Mexico
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I
often think of Micah, and his beautiful love for Christ and others. I
still will never forget the Mexico trip we were both on, and our bus
arrived at this out-of-the way area with small cabins and a main
building. The only food sent on the bus was an
entire box of flour tortillas... So around 6:00 PM that night, Micah
came to my cabin, and said, ""I've been foraging for food, Paula, and I
have found a really old bull roaming this property! Now I know a lot
of folks here are vegetarian, but come sun-up, I think most of 'em would
change their minds and eat BEEF Fajitas!". Then he added with
resignation, "Besides, it's an old bull, And since I've got this
(brandishing a large Bowie knife), I think I can take him! So If Harley
and the food hasn't shown up by midnight, I'm killing the bull, and
prepping him! All I need you to do is get a fire going on this
brick-built grill, while these guys (motioning to a few young college
kids) can gather fire wood for you!" - Paula Westbrook
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Micah "The Wall" King
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In
1993 our son Micah played basketball for Keene High
School. The boys
team played first and then the girls played. I think this game was at
Blum, Texas - big Keene Charger rivals. Between games one of the girls
on the team complained to Micah that the girls always rooted (loudly)
for the boys team, but the guys didn't seem interested in supporting the
girls when they were on the court. As the girls team took the court,
Micah rounded up the boys, stood them up and led the Keene
crowd in singing the girls team's fight song. Someone took a picture of
the moment (top of the page). That's Micah on the far right with the Big Dog sign in his
hand, singing his heart out for the girls.
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Micah playing shark with our daycare kids.
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Micah worked at Little Caesar's Pizza while he was in high school. He and a friend managed the store by themselves. His partner one day was in the back making a pizza when he heard the bell on the door jingle he waited to hear Micah greet the customer. After a while he went to the front to see what was going on. A customer stood at the counter. Micah was nowhere in sight. Micah's partner went to the counter and said, "Welcome to Little Caesar's." He nearly jumped out of his pants when he felt a tug at his cuff. He stepped back and look down to see Micah, all 6'3", 280 pounds of him folded up inside the space under the counter, grinning from ear to ear. Micah's partner had no idea what to do next. He wound up taking the customer's order and pretending there was nothing wrong. When he went back to make the customer's order, Micah crawled out from under the counter and acted as if nothing were out of the ordinary for your friendly neighborhood Little Caesar's. The poor customer looked utterly confused, but sat quietly till his pizza came out. Micah had a weird sense of humor.
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Micah with his Boys & Girls Club kids
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A mother approached us at Micah's memorial. Her elementary school son played the trumpet. He had been invited to play a trumpet solo at the First Baptist Church, the second largest church in Tyler. He was terrified. He confided his fears with Micah during Boys & Girls Club after school the week before. Micah encouraged the boy to go ahead and play. He shared stories with the boy of his own struggles with stage fright. He sometimes would shake so hard, people on the stage could feel the floor vibrate. What Micah did for the little trumpeter was get up early on Sunday morning, went down to the First Baptist Church and sat down on the front row next to the boy. "Don't look at anyone else," Micah told him. "Look at me. Keep your eyes on me while you play and you'll be alright." The boy gave a perfect performance. Micah came home that day and never told us what he had done. The boy's mother told us how grateful she was for what Micah had done for her boy. "My son," she said, "trusted and loved Micah and that got him past his fear."
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Micah's daycare class
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Two weeks before his death, Micah was talking to a friend. They talked about the future, girl troubles and school. Suddenly, Micah asked, "Do you think anyone would miss me if I died?" I kind of think he knew God was telling him his time was short. I can answer his question now. There's not a day goes by I don't think of Micah. His Mom is the same. Everyone I know remembers our gentle giant fondly. Many of his kids have come to us years later to tell us how much they miss him.
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Making another memory with Mom.
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One day I went out in the backyard of our daycare center one stiflingly hot Texas day and found Micah sitting in a wheelbarrow full of water spraying jets of water into the air with a hose. "What ARE you doing?" I asked looking at the growing puddle in the middle of the playground. "I'm makin' a memory," he replied. It was Sunday and the puddle would evaporate by sundown so I figured no harm, no foul. The boy (I say "boy", he was over 6 feet 250 pounds by then) gave me a sheepish grin. I gave him a thumbs up and left him to his memory making. I told his Mom to look out the back window and told her what he said he was doing. She cried a little. Moms are easily made misty-eyed.
The mark of a life well-lived is the hole it leaves when that life ends. Our church has never been so filled for a funeral than it was for Micah's memorial service. The stories that we told of his life at the service made us laugh and cry. I've seldom seen a funeral service quite like it. I miss him and look forward to Jesus' coming when he will rise and all of us will together be caught up in the clouds to go home with Him. What a day that will be!
© 2022 by Tom King
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