This memorial website was created in the memory of our precious son, Michael "Taylor" Roper, who was born in Georgia on May 21, 1985 and passed away on March 14, 2000 due to a massive stroke at the young age of 14. We will remember him forever.



Michael "Taylor" Roper, went by the name of Taylor.


My baby, so eager to come into this world, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 21, 1985. He came 2 months early, weighing  5lbs. 3oz., and was 21" long.

His Dad was in the delivery room, so excited. His first and only biological child. He was allowed to hold him for just a minute before they took him away to work on him.
He was a fighter from the beginning.

I left the hospital without him, because he had lost weight, and they wouldn't let him come home until he was back up to 5lbs. We were at the hospital several times a day until we brought him home a week later.

Taylor was a very loving and healthy child.
Taylor and his older brother Gunter, were all boy. They fought, they played, and got into every kind of mischief you can imagine.
Taylor loved cars and motorcycles.
His Dad had him on the motorcycle before he could even walk. He would put a helmet ( that was waaay too big ) on Taylor, strap a belt around Taylor, and then through his Dad's beltloops, and off they'd go. It was very difficult for his Dad to leave on the bike without him.

And cars...that boy was naming cars from the time he could talk.




Taylor loved go-carts, bicycles, lawnmowers, and pretty much anything with wheels and a motor. He was always on the go! He didn't seem to be scared of anything...quite the little daredevil he was, keeping us all on our toes trying to keep up with him.

I remember a time when he was just a little thing, and he was spending the night with his Gran ( Gwan, as he called her), and he wouldn't go to sleep...he never did, he just went until he passed out. Anyway, they were playing poker, and his Gran caught him cheating. She asked him where he learned to do that, and he said " my daddy taught me ".

Taylor wa so full of love and life.

Taylor played a year of tee-ball, and a year of coach pitch baseball before moving from Georgia to Tennessee.

He also took some karate

We moved from Georgia to Tennessee when Taylor was 7. 
I remember him coming home from his first day of school, telling me he had found him a girlfriend. I asked him what she looked like, and he said " she's got blonde hair, and drives a TransAm ".I knew from that moment on I was going to have to keep a close eye on him.

We have an old farm house on 10 acres of land, so Taylor had plenty of room to ride all his motorized "toys".
He also learned to drive after we moved here, at the age of 7.

We have a roller skating rink here, that was open until midnight, and quite often they would have all night skates. Taylor and his brother Gunter both became very good at roller skating.

Taylor also played a year of football.

We got some pigs a couple of years after we moved to Tennessee, and these pigs were a mess. I was watching the kids waiting for the bus one morning, and here are these 6 little pigs. When the bus stopped for the kids to get on, the pigs tried to get on the bus with them. They were so embarrassed.


Taylor and Gunter got their first dirt bike Christmas of '92. We woke up Christmas morning with it snowing. We were heading for Atlanta, but the boys just had to ride that motorcycle, so there we were, in the snow, with Dad teaching them how to ride, and Mom with the video camera. It was so cold. Taylor was a natural.


Taylor was a very intelligent child, as well. He did very well in school, with math being his favorite subject (definitely got that from his Dad).

Taylor joined the band at school, and started playing trumpet in the 6th grade.He also had a year of marching band in the 8th grade.
Taylor also, loved to work on cars, and was under a car with his Dad every chance he got.
Taylor also loved RAP music, and actually was a very good rapper. The kid couldn't hold a tune for nothing, but when he started rapping, it was like it was a completely different person. I believe that could have been his "calling".

Taylor had such an amazing personality. He could just light up a room with his smile.
He had so many friends and girlfriends, it was hard to keep up with them all.

Taylor was also with the Belfast Volunteer Fire Department as a Jr. Firefighter, which he was very proud of, and enjoyed a great deal.




Taylor started getting into some trouble in the 8th grade.




In February of 2000, his Dad and I decided to divorce. I was moving to Pensacola, Florida, and his Dad was staying in Tennessee. We gave Taylor the choice on who he wanted to live with, and due to the trouble he was getting in, he made the decision to move to Florida with
me.

 Taylor and I made a trip to Florida to find a place to live. It had to have a garage, so he would have a place to work on his car. A 1984 Camaro, which he purchased in 1999.

We found the perfect house the second day we were there, and I put down the deposit. We then headed back to Tennessee to pack.

I withdrew Taylor from school 2 weeks early, because he had already gotten so far behind. Man, was that some of that freaky God stuff. It gave his Dad and I extra time with him, that we had no clue we would so desperately need.

We packed up the U-Haul on March 8, 2000, and left for Florida on March 9, 2000. Taylor and Dad in the U-Haul, and Mom in the car. When we got to Florida, we unloaded the U-Haul, and put the beds together, so we would all have a place to sleep.
His Dad went to bed around midnight, and Taylor and I stayed up a few more hours to do some unpacking.

He was sure to give his Dad and I both a hug and kiss, and I love you goodnight---he always did.
God, how I miss that.

When we got up the next day, March 10, 2000, Taylor and his Dad took the U-Haul over to Gran's to pick up a sofa bed and some chairs. He was not feeling well that day. He had a headache. Taylor suffered from migraines from a very young age. So, when they got back, his Dad and I were going to pick up some lunch and drop off the U-Haul. Taylor said he wanted to stay home and rest, and wait for the telephone man to come, but for us to bring him back a burger. His Gran was on her way over, so we knew he wouldn't be there alone for long, plus it wasn't going to take his Dad and I long either.
His Gran got there about 15 minutes after we left, and the telephone man was there working, so we know Taylor had let him in. When his Gran got there, Taylor was laying on the floor. He couldn't speak, and he couldn't move his right side, but he was conscious.
 
His Dad and I got there real soon after, and got him on the couch. We tried to talk to him, to find out what happened, but all he could do was roll his eyes to look at us. We loaded him in the car and took him to Baptist Hospital.

When they got him to a room, they tested him for drugs (pumped his stomach, and all that stuff) no drugs in his system. They finally took him for a CT scan after 6 hours, which showed a massive stroke and swelling on the brain.

Taylor was conscious the whole time he was in the Emergency Room, and was even able to reach his left arm up and pat his Dad on the shoulder.

After the CT scan, they called the Children's Unit at Sacred Heart Hospital. The doctor told them to put him in a medically induced coma, and transport him to PICU at Sacred Heart.
Taylor never regained consciousness, and was pronounced brain dead Tuesday morning, March 14, 2000, and taken off of life support.

Taylor was surrounded by loving family and friends, during his stay in the hospital, and when he passed.

We Brought his body back to Tennessee to be buried.

I moved back to Tennessee in May, and back home with his Dad in August of 2000. We ended up not getting a divorce after all, and have been able to love and support each other through the pain and grief.

His Dad and my relationship has gotten much better.
Taylor taught us so many lessons.
He is truly a blessing, and we look forward to the day when we're together with him again.

Taylor is, and always has been an Angel.


Please light a candle and/or pay tribute when you visit this site, to let Taylor know that he will always be remembered and loved.




Taylor, you are loved and missed so much!



Taylor is survived by his father, Michael Dwayne Roper...his mother, Dee Weaver Roper...one brother, Gunter Roper...paternal grandmother, Sue Roper...maternal grandmother, Pat Weaver...maternal grandfather, Don Weaver...maternal great-grandmother, Minnie Lou Weaver...several loving aunts and uncles, and cousins, Tracey, Dusty, Amber, Chad, Trey, Connor, and Owen.




 



Please click on the "His Legacy" tab at the top of this page to read poems and stuff written for Taylor, by family and friends.

Catching all my dreams of you, and holding them close!