Regretfully, I only saw my brother Mike a handful of times during our adult life. As often happens in life, we get busy with our day to day lives, careers, raising a family, etc. and figure that there will always be an opportunity to catch up. Of course, now that he is gone, and much too early at that, I regret that I didn't seize opportunities to spend more time with him and make more of an effort to stay in touch. That doesn't mean that I didn't think of him often and wonder what he might be doing at those moments. Each time we did cross paths, usually when we were both visiting or passing through Louisville, Kentucky (where we both were born and grew up as children) or during an unexpected late night phone call, I loved catching up with him and hearing about his exploits and adventures as he travelled across the country. Although I only had a narrow glimpse into his life during those adult years, I very much enjoyed his tales of his travels. For example, I remember he once told me about bicycling through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado along a river. After observing how beautiful the river was he fashioned himself a makeshift fishing rod and caught enough trout for a meal for he and his companion as they made camp along the river. I especially liked that story being an obsessed fly fisherman who has never had an opportunity to fish in Colorado. If I recall, another story centered around him hiking along a stretch of the Appalachian trail somewhere on the southern portion of the trail and him having a tussle with a white-tailed deer! I also remember him telling me he wanted to bike across the country all the way to California. Not sure if he ever crossed that bucket list item off or not but I hope he did. Whether some of his tales were hyperbole or not it doesn't really matter. He very enthusiastically enjoyed telling me them and I very much enjoyed hearing them and I think we bonded during those brief encounters, always telling one another we had to stay in touch more often and would get together again soon. I think my big brother (I'm actually the oldest of us three brothers, but I always thought of him as my big brother although not sure he knew that) was a very private person and thus his need to always be off and traveling on his own although I believe he had a number of acquaintances and childhood friends that he stayed in touch with, including my youngest brother. I also know he was a very prideful person, had a huge heart, and would give you the clothes off his back if you needed them. I very much respected him for that.

I also have many fond memories of our early childhood growing up and being raised primarily by our grandmother. During those younger years we spent the summers swimming at the pool in our apartment complex, riding our bikes, playing baseball, football, and basketball with all of the other kids in our apartment neighborhood, and at times getting in trouble as one might expect. We fought like brothers do, usually because Mike wouldn't do his assigned chores and I felt, being the older brother, it was my responsibility to make sure he did (and if all three of us didn't do our assigned chores, our grandmother would punish only me as the oldest for the chores not being done!). This often led to knock down, drag out fights between Mike and I, and if I complained and told my grandmother she would yell at me. Up till about age eleven we were both about the same size and then he passed me in size dramatically. Although I usually held my own, I remember once letting (or maybe not) Mike get the best of me just so I could prove to my grandmother it wasn't my fault and one of his punches gave me a big black eye. That of course backfired as my grandmother (or Granny as we called her affectionately) gave me a good spanking for letting it happen! Mike and I laughed about this years later reminiscing during one of the times we were together. However, if someone else either bullied or was being aggressive toward his brothers, Mike would fiercely defend his family.

As I write this memorial and try to convey in words how I feel about my big brother Mike, I am missing him terribly. I hope he is looking down on us and knows how much he really meant to us all. I Love You Brother. Rest in peace and I'm looking forward to seeing you again on the other side.

I have posted a number of pictures from our childhood that I hope reminds everyone of good memories and gives our family and friends comfort as we deal with the loss of Mike.

A Night at Diamonds Billiards with Leslie Lockett, Bob Lockett, Tim Lockett, Robert Lockett, and Mike Lockett . Our Parent came down to see all of us for X-mas and we went out to celebrate it was a awesome night of laughs and good pool .

•  Troy and family, Mike was such a sweet, loving man!  I have fond memories of him and Michelle ❤️  Remember when they moved into together?  I thought what are they doing?  They really loved each other!  They were so young and happy!  He always had a story to tell & a smile on his face to lighten another’s day!  I’m thinking of you and yours today and everyday 💜
• Love always Jackie