Michael Weston Haines Memorial Fund

To explain who my brother was I thought it was best to share the Eulogy:
My brother was many things to many people. He was firstly a protector and encourager to so many.  When I was young I often referred to my brother as “my Michael”. He once frantically called the restaurant my parents owned to tell my mom to come home quick because Blake was swinging me around by my hair.  As I grew up and began dating Dustin at the age of 15, Michael was not happy about me dating an older guy that was in his class. One evening Dustin had called the house to let me know that he was going to be running an hour late to pick me up for a date.  Michael answered the phone and took the message, however Michael didn’t give me the message and instead thought that if I thought Dustin was over an hour late and hadn’t called, just maybe I would break up with him.  His scheme obviously didn’t work, as 4 years later Dustin and I got married.  I know my brother had done that out of love and trying to protect his little sister.  He eventually said that he couldn’t have chosen a better guy for me to marry and he loved Dustin and his other brother in law like brothers.  Michael would also commonly send many people encouraging texts.  He sent my sister the following text message:

Love you so much! Happy Birthday Blake! You are the best big sister any brother could ever ask for in life. I am so proud of the wife, mother, sister, and daughter that you have become. You taught me to never be ashamed to show your true emotions, which is code for real men cry! It has always been the case that I was the least emotional person in our family, and could probably use a lesson in letting my feelings show more like Michael and Blake did.  I remember when we took Blake to college to drop her off, I was not in tears and honestly was excited to finally get my own room and have more one on one time with my brother, Michael on the other hand cried the whole way home from Lexington.  You see although I have a wonderful relationship with my sister now, but at time our age difference seemed huge and I was much closer to Michael.  It wasn’t until much later I realized how hard it was for him to have his big sister that he was close to move away.
Secondly, my brother was a funny guy that loved to joke around.  He once took my grandmothers hair net while we were on vacation and hid it in the freezer.  He loved to tuck in his ears completely and pop them out.  I remember countless times when he would do this trick for my kids and they would exclaim, “Uncle Michael is so funny” and giggle for what seemed like forever. When Blake brought her boyfriend home for the first time, (that is now her husband), he loved showing him Blake’s awkward stage photos, and would giggle about her 80’s permed hair and huge glasses.  It was all in good humor and she knew how much he loved her. He found it hilarious to give Weston wet willies and not Weston has carried on that tradition! He would hug BB really tight and tell Weston, “this is my BB”, Weston would get upset a little and proclaim “No, that’s my BB!” Michael joked and teased the ones he loved the most!
Thirdly, my brother was a loyal and loving friend, father, brother, and son.  We have heard story after story about how Michael would make anyone feel welcome and loved. Whether it be helping a friend get through the death of a parent, being there for friends with struggling marriages, giving people a place to stay when they were in need, inviting people to church, or simply sending them a text to remind them they were special and loved.  He loved coming home to visit Mom and Dad. He adored them and was so proud and thankful for having the parents he had.  When he was home he would soak up every minute with them. 
We will miss everything about Michael and I know we will certainly have a long grieving time, things will be different from here on out, but we will get through it clinging to God’s promises. We are a close family and Michael would want us to continue on living life and loving others. As one of his friends expressed a couple of days ago, “They say we are remembered in this world by the impact we leave on others, well Brother, no one I know had more of an impact on others than you. You were such a kind, unselfish, soft hearted person and you genuinely cared more for others than yourself.” There was never a time Michael would leave anyone with out saying how much he loved them, so it is only fitting to end this by saying I love you My Michael.

We started this memorial fund to help with the expenses of raising Weston, Michael's 3-year-old son.  We have had many people request to donate money so we thought this would be the easiest way to do this.  We are trying to give Weston the childhood and life that Michael would have wanted him to have. Please don't feel pressure to donate, only donate if you feel led to do so.  Any amount is helpful. Thank you so much for your consideration.