Michael Maggio was famous, not because he set out to be. He was famous because of his ability to live life against insurmountable odds. Michael was a survivor of Cystic Fibrosis. Through those years when he was so sick and frail, when he was dying, he managed to direct over 20 plays. He was one of the cornerstones of the Goodman Theater in Chicago, as well as one of the most acclaimed directors in the business. After a double lung transplant he got his chance to truly live. He lived those ten years more fully than most people live their entire lives, taking on the responsibility as dean of the Theater School at Depaul University. He raised his son and did his work with so much talent and drive and fire. Despite all of that determination, cancer got him in the end, a complication from the transplant. It invaded his body and shut it down.

Although, Michael may have only been a name to me, a distant cousin who knew me only by name, I cry. I cry for those he leaves behind. I cry for the wife, the son, the mother, the father, the sister, the cousin, the friend. I cry for the gift he gave to the world, and only pray that it lives on in his honor. And in our hearts. We'll miss you, Michael. I hope you're smiling on us from heaven.