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Michael E Gould Date of Birth: July 30, 1972 Position: NASDAQ Trader On the outside, there was the tough guy, 5′ 11, 260 pounds of rock solid muscle. He challenged himself to exceed all expectations, never allowing himself to be deterred in any way. He faced adversity in his life with willpower and determination and became even stronger. He always gave his best and he expected the best. He dreamed of success and made his dreams come true. He was an inspiration to those who knew him well. On the inside, there was the little boy with a heart of gold. He was devoted to his family and friends and shared a very special relationship with his mom. He loved animals: Simba, the exotic Bengal cat with whom he shared his life, and Marley, the beautiful black lab he had since childhood. He was passionate about guitars. In the words of a friend, he “never saw a LesPaul he didn’t like.” He was as comfortable in an Armani suit as he was in a West Coast Choppers T-shirt and sweats. He wanted to be loved, not for his success, but for the person he was. He could always make us laugh. He loved beautiful women; endlessly searching for the special one with whom he would spend the rest of his life. He adored little kids and dreamed of having a family of his own. Most of all, he loved his friends and family. He touched each of our lives in a special way and we will always miss him. Mike, you were, and always will be, our hero. We will love you forever my son. Mom
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Tributes
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Mike and I were partners in the Cantor training program. Others in the program considered their partner as just the person you rotated through the department with. Not us! We studied and ate together( not every 2hrs!), defended each other (I’m from SC), shopped for his 1st BMW and apt., fought with each other and most importantly laughed at and with each other. We were not just partners, We are friends! He cherished his family and friends. Heart of Gold. He will be so greatly missed.
Kellie
The Tragedy
The tragedy touched my heart
I lost someone I didn’t even know
He was related to me
His name was Michael
He was my cousin
And he died in the Twin Towers
It was the first one hit
He was on the 104th floor
I think that’s higher than where the plane hit
So he didn’t have a chance to get out
He was only 29 years old
He had a brother
Now you know how I feel about the tragedy
How do you feel?
I know you feel something
By Jenna Williams
Age 9
Mike was special – one in a million. If you had his trust, you had his heart. His passion – especially for guitars – always radiated. There was the contradiction about him that made him so unique and lovable: Here was this big, strong guy, yet he was so proud of the loving bond he had with his mother. Too macho to share my umbrella in the pouring rain, yet sensitive enough to call and make sure I’d made it home okay. His teasing and banter was merciless, but I couldn’t stay mad for long with a tomato slice stuck to my cheek – he’d torment the laughter out of you! There was also the challenge of making him laugh: if you could invoke half of that Cheshire cat grin from him, you had him!
I felt like a little girl around Mike – absolutely giddy. Whether we were watching t.v. or out in the City, he would never cease to amaze me. With just a look, a quip, or a touch, he always had my attention. He was special.
Mike, you are forever loved and sorely missed by all of us whose lives you’ve graced. I will love you always and am forever grateful for having crossed paths with you. I wish you were still here to live out the glorious life you so deserved, yet I know you’re in the best possible place you can be: Among the angels.
I met Mike when he responded to an ad I had placed on the net, to sell a guitar. We talked for a while, and we realized we had a lot in common in our love for great guitars. There are many people I meet who also love great guitars, but for whatever reason, Mike and I hit it off on that first conversation, and we became friends. We both had to check in with each other daily on the topics of music and guitars, and we went to all the guitar shows together.
This may sound odd, but whenever I see a picture of a great guitar, I get excited and instinctively begin to call Mike or send him an e-mail. Then I stop and sigh. This reaction has not diminished in the least since September 11, and in some way I hope it never will. Our friendship went beyond just guitars, but it’s just a silly way that this friend will always remember him. My joy will always be tempered somewhat by my remembrance of my friend who was taken away from this world all too soon.
Like all his friends and family, I miss him.
Peace.
Mike – on the outside tough and gruff – on the inside soft and caring. He called his mother most every day. As a boy – always into something – music, baseball, hockey, surfing, skateboarding, playing with the family animals. He could make you laugh uncontrollably one minute and scream the next. Never a dull moment. Mike was happiest when he was home. The last time was Labor Day weekend.
Mike had achieved many of his goals and the next one was to find that special woman and start a family. We were waiting for the day when we would see Mike holding his first tiny child in his big arms. The smile on his face would have lit up the sky.
Mike, we’ll miss you forever.
Mike’s mom and my mom worked together for a few years. I always knew of Mike, but never did know him. All I knew is that his mother used to speak very highly of his acheivements in his career, as well as his life. In the beginning, he was just Kathie’s son. We met briefly and had a few encounters after that. Until I had the opportunity to have a couple cold ones on Christmas Eve of 2000. Then I actually got to know Mike a little better. I realized then that he was one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet. He was a very succesful guy, and you could see that in how well he carried himself. Never in my life have I seen (or heard about through Kathie), someone with the world in his hands, but genuine enough to be willing to offer it to other people. Imagine, I thought this way after a few times, and i feel ,whole heartedly, that had the honor of knowing him better than I. Mike, if I could have a fraction of the drive, determination, and optimism you showed me that night, You have taught me a great lesson in life. You will not only be missed by the people that admired you…but the people that loved you.
Michael’s mother and I have been co-workers and good friends for several years, and I knew her son, Mike, mostly through the pride that came from her heart when she spoke of him. The stories she told of her sons, Mike and Rob, and the things they used to pull on each other as children, and as young men, would have Kathie shaking her head with wonder how they all survived, and laughing at the same time. Mike called his mother for at least a few minutes almost daily, not because he thought he had to, but because they had that special relationship of not only love, but respect and friendship. He valued her opinion, and that feeling was mutual. The were not only mother and son, but true friends as well.
The last time I saw Michael was Christmas Eve of 2000, when we had been to Kathie’s house for a Christmas party. Mike carried some things out to the car for me, gave me a hug, and thanked me for being a good friend to his mom. I hugged him back, and thanked him for being the kind of son, and person, who made my friend so happy and proud. No matter how “down” Kathie could be at times, Mike could always make her laugh, and I know that the wonderful memories she has of him will remain in her heart forever.
When I wrote this I always thought writing it would be the hardest part. Posting it became the hardest. I wish I had been stronger to post this earlier.
I’m not sure how to do this, so I am writing an open letter to Mike. Mike: I’m not sure what to say. There are so many things that I am going to miss with you not being a part of my life. I will miss having you as the person with whom I could talk about growing up together. We were the two who shared the times at the beach, the bumper boats, St. Michaels, little league, my “bad haircut” and the many other memories were shared. The things that only we could understand. I will also miss the new thing that I have you to solely thank. If not for you, my life would know little of professional wresting, break dancing, ice hockey, music from rap to Linkin Park, the guitar shops and many of the better things in life. For a long time we struggled with how different we were. Looking back I know that those differences helped each of us to grow and be better. I will always miss you for the times we shared. More so, I will miss the times that we will never have and for not know what I might experience next for having you as a brother. I am better person for having you as a brother.
Today is Mike’s 30th birthday. He was never into the stars (not ever would he read a silly horoscope), but he was a typical “Leo”: strong, confident, proud and stubborn. And outspoken…
For his 29th birthday I agonized over what to get him: What do you get for the guy who has everything he’d ever want? I knew Mike was into his music, so I thought it would be a good idea to get him a really nice portable CD player – a modern replacement to the cassette walkman he’d take to the gym. Knowing Mike – he would research products to no end to find the very best quality offered, I took to his mad methods and spent a week on a mission to find the very best portable CD player on the market. I found it: ultra thin (the lightest in the world at the time), super shock absorber (you could bounce around on a pogo stick and the thing wouldn’t skip), and limitless memory. This was the One. Knowing what a perfectionist Mike was, I paid attention to every detail, right down to the gift-wrap (simulated python print – cool).
The birthday moment: Of course he commented on the cool wrap, opened the package, and the first words to come out of his mouth were: “Is this a good one?”…Second words: “But it’s not a Sony.” Third: “I don’t know about these.” He was smiling by this time: “What’s up with the headphones – they’re huge – ‘My First Headphones’ they look like.” It was all tongue-in-cheek by then, and it was worth all the trouble for that smile alone!
Today on his birthday, I want to remember him especially, being grateful that he came into this world thirty years ago, and touched our lives in different special ways for each of us. We have our irreplaceable, wonderful memories, our gift from him.
Happy birthday, Mike.
Dearest Michael, as the one-year anniversary of your leaving approaches, I wanted to write this tribute to you. Not so much for you really, as for those you left behind who miss you so, so much. In the past year, I have come to know the very special son, brother and friend you are, while never having known you in this life. I do however, know and love your Mom and want to tell you that while I know you always knew, she is the most incredibly sensitive, compassionate and caring person I have known. Her strength to survive whatever this past year has brought never ceases to amaze me. She, through you has changed my life.
I am a great lover of poetry and came across this one evenhing while searching for some words of wisdom to try and make sense and reason out of this terrible tragedy. And while it has no answers it reminds me that…
There are rare moments – when peace comes quietly into the waiting heart – if only for a little while – and the dragonflies dart here and there above the smiling waters – and come to rest upon a blade of grass – and the brook laughs softly as it comes to join the pond – and the blue heron stands motionless among the reeds – and the sunlight soothes the weary body – and the heart is strangely lifted – if only for a little while -for the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer and – dark blue shadows rest upon the frozen pond – and the laughter of the brook is stilled – and the tracks of the hungry deer are marked upon the newly fallen snow – and the yearning heart waits impatiently and struggles to remember – that in a little while – the nights will grow shorter again – and the days will lengthen – and the dragonflies will come to rest upon a blade of grass…
and peace comes quietly into the waiting heart – if only for a little while -*
Michael, I wish for you, your Mom, Jeff, Rob and Vanessa and all of those who love you…Pdeace.
Much love, Carole
*Winston O. Abbott – Sing With The Wind
Dear Mike,
I think about you all the time. Springtime reminds me of you. Spring 2001 was a great time in San Francisco, with so many memories. I will never forget laughing while you did your Jimmy Stewart impression, fighting with you when you were being your stubborn self, barbecuing on your back deck, walking to Baskin-Robbins for a scoop of mint chip, dragging you to see Bridget Jones’ Diary with me, researching the internet in preparation for our Japan trip, introducing Maddie to Simba for the first time (and Maddie chasing Sim all over the place)…so many little moments that should never have been taken for granted, and that I will cherish always. I send you big hugs –miss you much.
Tomorrow marks your 31st birthday, my son. It’s a day have cherished all of my life since that very first one so many years ago. You were a special gift from God and I loved you with all my heart from the moment you came into my life.
There is not one day that goes by that I don’t think of you and wish I could somehow undo all that has happened. To have you here with me again would be my greatest joy. It saddens me to realize that day will never come, but you should know you live in my heart forever. My gift to you is that I will never forget – not you who I love with all my heart or any of the others who lives were taken from us on that fateful day in September, 2001.
All my love,
Mom
9-11-03
“And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will be just one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens…in one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night..” – from “The Little Prince” by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Today you would have been 34 years old. It seems hard to believe it has been nearly five years since you died. But today, on your birthday, I try to remember the beautiful moments of your birth and the joy that I felt as you took your first breath. I try to remember all the wonderful times we shared together and how much we loved each other.Today isa day to celebrate your life! You were such an incredible person, Mike and you touched the hearts of so many. We all miss you and love you as much today as ever. If I could have one wish it would be to know for sure that one day we shall find each other again and spend the forever together.
Much love,
Mom
Seven years, Mike, since I was able to hug you and hold you. I miss you today as much as I did on September 11, 2001.
Even though we have accepted your death, there will always be a void in my life that no one can ever fill. Someone told me today they hoped I would be all right tomorrow. They just don’t know that every day without you is the same as any other.
I will love you forever, my son and I will keep my promise that I will never forget.
Love, Mom
A few weeks ago, I received a call that they had identified another small piece of your body. I will bring you hone, once again, to be with us. It is where you belong. I am so very grateful to those who have persisted in the effort to give me as much of you as they can. I miss you so.
I am also reminded once again of all that I have lost. You were my son, but you were also my protector. It was you, alone, who stood with me at my mother’s bedside as she lay dying. You made me feel safe.
I shall love you forever.
Mom
Hi Michael, it was 8 years ago that this terrible awful tragedy took you away..I belong to a Gibson les Paul forum called My les Paul, and one of the members on there worked for the same company you did, Cantor and he posted this memorial site..I started reading through all the tributes from the families, tears streaking down my face, grieving for everyone, then I came to you, and I read what your mom wrote, and I read about your love for Gibson Les Pauls and I knew you were my brother…RIP bro.. I bet your having a heck of a jam up in heaven… God Bless
-Mike Blake
Mike was the one name given to me as part of project 2996 and I did a tribute to him in memory of him hope family and friends get to see it
http://lyrricist.delta-knight.co.uk
* I also received emails one touching one from another Mike..who also payed tribute ..his site is here
http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/if-you-printed-the-internet/
May Michael’s family and friends know he was thought of by those of us online who never got the chance to meet him.
Lyr
09/11/10
Hey Mike,
It’s another year gone by since this terrible day.. I found you a year ago on this site, read about your love for les Pauls and it hit home. I will keep your memory alive as long as I can on the Mt Les Paul forum… God Bless you man… RIP.. here is the link for my tribute to Mike..
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/backstage/59579-my-tribute-9-11-victim-who-loved-les-pauls.html