Michael Vincent Wells

I was 4 years old when mom and dad brought Michael home from the hospital. Mom asked me if I wanted to hold him on my lap. At first, I wasn’t sure but then as I was holding him and his tiny hand reached up and gently touched my cheek I thought “I am going to love you all my life!”.

We were great friends all our lives and childhood playmates running around on the mountain with our dogs and the other kids. He was funny, goofy, gregarious, and so happy!

When he was a teen, he loved being in the volunteer fire dept fighting fires with his dad who is the hero he worshipped. In high school he worked at Listen Up and won an award for a sound system he designed. After he graduated from CU, he forged a career in the music business as a roadie starting with the band Firefall and gradually getting more responsibility working as a guitar tech; sometimes maintaining as many as 30 guitars at a time making sure they were strung, tuned and ready at a moment’s notice for the performers on stage. At the end of his career, he was stage managing. He met many rock legends; Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, Beachboys Brian Wilson. He went on tour with Natalie Cole, the Eagles, Big Head Todd, just to name a few. Hi favorite person was Harry Belafonte who I too had the privilege to meet. We traveled a lot as a family and Michael traveled extensively all over Europe and North America in his career. He went around the world with my dad and to Antarctica twice most recently in 2024. He was in London for the induction into the British Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He met Led Zeppelin and he told me he was passing when he heard Lenny Kravitz practicing in an empty room. He was astounded by what he heard him playing.

Michael was a great cook, photographer, and so proud of his new camera! He was a wonderful writer and even wrote a screenplay. He was generous, thoughtful, kind, very smart, often stubborn, and sometimes a know-it-all. He was extremely loyal and most of all so loving and empathetic.

When dad died his life turned to ashes. The health problems he’d been battling for years began to take a very heavy toll. He tried numerous times over the past 5 years to rebuild his life but would get hit with devastating setbacks physically.

When he and I were selling dad’s house we were sitting on the stairs and he said “Karan, I just want to go home. I want to be with Jesus, dad, and my dog.” That was his heart’s wish.

He battled on through all the excruciating pain and health ordeals I don’t know. I began to hold him lose, knowing he could go at any time. No matter how prepared I thought I was… I wasn’t. When I was told the news on Friday morning that he had passed it hit HARD! Richard, Mom and I were devastated. On Saturday we were dealing with shock and I didn’t think I’d ever stop crying. My wonderful and supportive husband gently shifted my perspective by reminding me that we had been praying for his relief and that now, he was FREE!! OUT OF PAIN!! YES! That began to change everything.

Yes, yes, we will miss you greatly but Michael you are free! You are whole, healthy, and blissfully happy. You are home. You have your heart’s wish of being with Jesus, dad and your dog.

We have all heard it said you reach a point where life stops giving and starts taking. If you live long enough yes, that is true but I was thinking about that a few months ago, and I thought “yeah that’s true, life does start to take and it can be cruel but that’s not the whole story because as Christians, God gives it ALL back to us and even MORE!!”.

Michael is living his happy ending! He ran the race before him with courage and incredible strength. He never lost his faith. He told me over and over “Jesus and Father God have me. They are right here with me”.

He loved his family and friends dearly. He loved his career and he said to me many times over the last few years “I have had many days in the sun”. He experienced things most of us can only dream of and that is something to celebrate! We were blessed to have him, and it is not goodbye. It is only a temporary separation we will see you again you little rug-rat!

I also realized that with Michael’s freedom God has also freed all of us who loved him. He frees us from constant agonizing stress and worry, the feeling of powerlessness in being unable to do anything to ease his suffering and pain.

Michael is free and has a happy ending and we are free too. Free to rejoice with him that he is home!

God is good and He has been and will continue to be so good to all of us.