Michael Rose

Michael Rose
From the moment Michael was born on May 24, 1982, he brought joy to everyone around him. In the short 16 years that he was with us, he touched more lives than most will in their lifetime. Michael cherished his time with family and friends and loved spending time outdoors including: playing sports, hunting, fishing, and off-roading in his truck with friends.

Michael was a 15 year old vibrant, healthy high school student having the time of his life when he was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. A diagnosis of this kind would destroy most people but Michael was a fighter and he was determined to face this head on. He would always say, I’m not dying of cancer but just living with cancer.

The day after being diagnosed, Michael and his family were at MD Anderson figuring out a plan of attack against this devastating disease. Immediately, Michael went in for brain surgery to see if the tumor could be removed. Although they were able to remove part of it, the majority of the tumor could not be removed. Michael then went into 6 weeks of radiation followed by intensive rounds of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy was so grueling on Michael’s body that he ended up having to spend over 100 days in ICU at MD Anderson.

However sick he was physically, he never gave up hope and remained strong mentally and spiritually for his family, who was at his side every moment of his fight. Through all of the struggles, Michael never lost his faith in God or his will to fight. He persevered through it all with dignity, courage, and bravery.

On March 18, 1999, Michael Curtis Rose passed away at his home surrounded by his family and friends. On that day I lost the best big brother anyone could ask for. My parents lost a loving, kind hearted, joyful son. And, his friends lost a fun loving and loyal friend. Michael is now with his lord and savior but his spirit lives on in the people he knew and the lives he touched.

I would like to give a special thanks to Michael’s lifelong best friend, Jamie Conway, for organizing the Michael Rose Crew. Jamie is one of the many people Michael touched and now he and the rest of Michael’s friends and family will do their small part to help out others going through similar struggles and to one day put an end to this deadly disease.