12 responses to Michael A. Honeyman

1. 

   marla brown says:

   May 15, 2015

   Mike you influenced so many people in different ways. Journey on young man……

   Allan and Marla Brown

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2. 

   Maxwell Whelihan says:

   May 15, 2015

   I love you Honeyman. I will always cherish our crazy times and late night philosophical musings. I’m going to miss you dearly. The world is going to miss you dearly.

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3. 

   Richard Lim says:

   May 15, 2015

   To the Honeyman family,
   Mike and I attended San Joaquin Elementary School in third grade together. I remember playing tag with him and he was one of the most fearsome runners in the class, especially with his high-top Reebok Pumps. I moved to a different school in the area and lost touch with him, until we ended up going to Aliso Niguel High School together six years later. We had Geometry during summer school together and got to know each other quite well. In fact, he was one of my best friends. We were a bit of an odd duo. We had very little in common – almost no similar interests or tastes in music, movies, or sports (which was pretty much my world at the time). We did bond, however, over girls we had crushes on. At any rate, I remember sophomore year, Michael suffered a series of heart attacks. Shortly afterwards, he sent an email to me and a few other friends expressing how much he loved and cared for us and how the experience had reminded him of what he believed was truly important in life. It was the first time I ever saw a close friend of mine pour out their heart like that. For my birthday that year, I only invited two people for dinner with my family, and he was one of them. I remember hanging out with Mike that year a lot. We went paintballing together, watched TV, went to the movies and just chilled out. I remember when he got a job at Zany Brainy and sported his white-man’s afro. I remember meeting his dad and enjoying the fact that they both had the same style afro. I remember that my freshman year in high school was a lonely year, and getting to know Mike the following year changed that.
   After sophomore year, Mike and I drifted apart, mainly because we both hung out with different friends. We would see each other around and would say hi, but we weren’t close anymore. I definitely regret that. I remember, sometime in junior or senior year, Mike shared with me that he was a Christian and explained to me the Gospel. It left me unsettled, but I could tell it was because he really cared about me and genuinely wanted to share with me something that had really changed his life. We rarely spoke after that. The ironic thing is that I have since become a Christian, and I always mention Mike as someone God put in my life to share His Gospel with me. I wish I could have told him thank you.
   I heard the news that Mike had passed away this morning. It is strange, but just the other day I had a random thought about him. I remembered how smart Mike was and his ironic sense of humor. He was one of the wittiest people I’ve ever met and he took great joy in making people laugh. He was one of the first people in my life who I felt a true connection with that went beyond shared interests. I am truly saddened to hear about his passing, but I know that God used him to bring joy and laughter to so many.
   My deepest condolences,
   Richard

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4. 

   alex says:

   May 16, 2015

   To the Honeyman family,

   We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Michael. A precious and innocent life taken too soon, but we know in our hearts, Michael lived life to the fullest and he is at peace. We send you much love, light and prayers during this time of sorrow.

   With heartfelt condolences,

   The Zanetti Family,
   Alex, Rachel and Zane

   Reply
5. 

   Ben Stern says:

   May 16, 2015

   Mike was one of the first friends I made in fourth grade after moving from San Jose, CA to Laguna Hills. We used to walk to his house most days after school and listen to Nirvana and play video games with Josh and microwave strange forgotten treasures from deep within the bowels of the freezer. We especially loved to read the ingredients from boxes of Hot Pockets or Ortega Taquitos and imagine how these things were made. “Mechanically separated chicken” was particularly hilarious to us at the time. Sometimes Mike would squeeze the the cheese out of a freshly microwaved quesadilla and make this great comical oozing sound that had me in stitches without fail. He was the funniest kid I knew.
   There wasn’t anything he couldn’t turn into a joke including his own lack of coordination or his heart problems. If he missed a catch during an after school football game he’d celebrate as if he’d just scored a touchdown. He had such an advanced grasp of self-deprecating humor. It really taught me to laugh at myself as well- a skill that has gotten me through countless tough times.
   When he returned to school after suffering multiple heart attacks in high school he’d say things like, “Back off, man, or I’ll have a heart attack all over you!” Or “Yeah, take that heart,” while eating something unhealthy. Or do this uncomfortably long impression of himself having a heart attack. It was the darkest of dark humor and he loved how uncomfortable it made everyone. I’ve never known anyone else who could make such a serious situation so funny.
   After I moved away for school I lost touch with pretty much every one of my high school friends, except for Mike. Any time I came back down to Southern California to see my mother I’d make sure I set aside some time to catch up with him. We always had such a blast telling each other stories about our triumphs and failures since we last spoke.
   The last time I saw Mike was about 2 and a half years ago. We took a walk down Huntington Beach and told each other all about what we’d been up to and filled each other in about how our families were doing. I wish I had taken some pictures while I was there, but I guess our friendship predated the iPhone age.
   We spent most of that week I was there together, walking around some of the places we used to go back in high school. Laguna Hills Mall, Laguna Beach, Irvine Spectrum, random shopping centers that no longer had any of the same stores in them from the last time I visited. I remember thinking how nice it was to have such a great tour guide that still lived in my home town. He was my connection to a place I lived so far away from now and that was really comforting.
   The last thing we did together on that trip was go to Dave and Buster’s. We shot a few games of pool and ate some wierd, greasy snacks- a tradition every time we hung out. Then we noticed a big dark room off in one of the corners with terrible country music pouring out of it. We just had to investigate, and to our delight it was a room full of people line dancing. Behind the dance floor, inexplicably, was this giant movie theater sized screen that was just scrolling through adds for local shops and different types of alcohol. We were flat out amazed that this is what all these folks chose to do with their evening. We probably sat there for an hour at the bar overlooking this sad, sad dance floor, cracking jokes about these cowboy hat-clad strangers and the women who chose to date them. It was the very pinnacle of humorous people watching.
   These are the things I’ll always remember about Mike. We shared so many laughs and helped each other out through so many rough times. My visits to my home town will never be as fun without him.

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