Though I could write pages of remembrances and still have many more to write, I will send you just a few. As you may know Michael was my husband's Best Man at our wedding and Kent was Best Man at Mike's wedding to Cindy. There are so many wonderful remembrances in the many years we worked with and spent time with Michael. Kent and Michael were best friends and shared the special moments best friends share. I considered Michael one of the dearest friends I've had. I will always remember and appreciate the love he had for my late mom who he lovingly called ‘The Pump’. The reason; my mother Francesca was a beautiful pianist/organist and performed professionally. Whenever a script on one of our shows called for an organist, Mike would want my mom. On Little House, as you know in the 1800's they had pump organs - thus, his nickname for her. When she became ill with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) he was incredibly kind – and visited with her. On her birthday one Sunday at our home, he left his family to come over to give her a kiss and share one of his great smiles.

I think I will always remember, as will Kent, when we would pick up Mike at his home in the early morning hours, 5:30 a.m., to take him to location. We would drive together to work and home. Michael always insisted on sitting in the back seat. He would say "Mommie and Poppie should always sit together - Sonny will sit in the back." And that is how the crew knew us when we would arrive at location. I remember a crew member saying "There's Mommie, Poppie and Sonny." All the way to location, Mike and I would cast a show in the car - I would show him pictures of actors I felt were right for a role and we'd talk about them. Because he directed most every show, it would be the best time to talk about casting. With Kent  - they would talk about production and locations and shows. I think the best part of those car rides was having ‘Sonny’ read the morning newspaper to us from the back seat. Invariably he would pick the most amazing stories to share and it wouldn't be long before that particular story, or at least a portion of the (true) story, would end up in a script.

Of course at our wedding, when Michael and I danced at the reception - I will always remember the little whisper in my ear - "You look beautiful Mommie - I love ya - I'm so happy for you!" The day of his passing, we were with him. Besides the day Mike called to tell Kent he had Pancreatic Cancer, it was one of the saddest most tragic days in our lives. I can't begin to tell you how much we miss him - every day.

I thought I would share with you ... Kent and Michael played Cribbage every day at the studio and even when Mike got sick Kent would go over to the house and they would play cards. We had dinner a couple of weeks ago with Leslie (Mike's daughter) and family. When we arrived at the house, she asked if Kent would show her son how to play Cribbage. I can't tell you how emotional and special it was to see the two of them play as Kent and Mike did for so many years.