Keith
You will be missed by your students and those of us that got to know you. You left and impression hard to forget.

Six Words; Tribute to my brother Keith Miles at his Memorial
June 13, 2015

If you were given a chance to come up with four words to use as an epitaph  a way to memorialize a loved one  could you do it? In my case - no. This was asked of us when discussing funeral arrangements what four words would be engraved on Keith's gravestone. For me it would take exactly six words: He loved with all his heart. I couldn't find another way to concise these words that described my brother so perfectly. I'd like to share a big sister story so you can understand how Keith loved with all his heart.

You see my inquisitive brother from the time he was a little boy was a bookworm. He loved to read  especially about science.  Because science gave him the keys to unlock the marvelous mysteries of this world. It was the study of how things work. 
The other day I saw a clear, glass marble on the sidewalk. I picked it up so no one would step on it and loose their footing. When I looked closer at it, I remembered something; something about Keith's character. If I held up the glass marble to bright light at different angles, it would cast prisms of rainbow colors. I'd say How pretty as the colored rays of light danced on the sidewalk. But my brother Keith would say How did that happen? Questions like this would drive him to find out which meant walking to the public library a half a mile away when we lived in West University; his childhood home. Picture this little boy walking by himself on a humid, hot Houston day matched only by the fire burning in his belly to unlock the mystery of the rainbow in the clear, glass marble. Along with his childlike imagination mixed in making up magical scenarios. Little wonder that Keith was also drawn to classic books written by C.S. Lewis like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the Chronicles of Narnia. He was intrigued by the tales of children, like himself, who had a passion for discovery which would ultimately benefit all mankind. And as you know along this journey to Narnia, the characters encountered challenges  dragons, and witches, and other unsavory characters. They learned to distinguish between good and evil which in the beginning eluded them. There were parallels to be drawn to life which shaped my brothers mind. He'd understand that like glass refracting light makes color  when held up to near darkness casts only a shadow. 

Keith took the high road. In spite of struggling through school because of learning disabilities, he persevered especially in hard subjects like mathematics. He knew once mastered it would give him the ability to take it to the next level and learn physics; the natural science involving matter and its motion through space and time and how it relates to energy and force.  To have an inquisitive mind like this, means you run a mental marathon in your head. Someone like me, first brain muscle cramp would say: I'm finished.  But Keith muscled on. This little boy spent much time in the library buried in books, expanding his mind. He grew up and went on to higher education achieving a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, then a Master's Degree in Physics from Texas State University in San Marcos. He served as President of the Sigma Phi Sigma Chapter at Texas State and a member of the Sigma Phi Sigma Honors Society. In spite of obstacles such as his learning disabilities and social awkwardness much like the dragons and unsavory monsters in the Chronicles of Narnia  he arrived at his destination. He was an inspiration to me which is why I went back to college after having four kids. On a bad day I'd think What would Keith do? And I knew, Why he would muscle through. And I did, until I got my bachelors from UT-Austin. 

What kept Keith muscling through? Was it just his inquisitiveness? No. Keith loved with all his heart this world God created and the universe beyond, so much so he had to learn everything about it. And he loved his own personal universe. His family and friends gathered here today to celebrate his life. So much, he shared everything he knew with us and enhanced our own little world. 

If it weren't for Keith, I wouldn't know about Japanese cartoons like Sailor Moon. Or the mystical enchanting music of Enya.  Or the TV show Mystery Science Theater which my children enjoyed watching with their Uncle. Or laughing with him listening to Weird Al Yankovic songs. I wouldn't know when a meteor shower was suppose to happen that evening  Keith would call and say, Gina, set your alarm and go outside to watch it this one happens every 100 years. And doughnuts and coffee tasted best with Keith. He'd talk about everything under the sun. He was my own personal rainbow refracting his bright colors sitting at my breakfast table. What an experience knowing him and what was in his great mind.

In a little while some family and friends and Greg Funderburk will also share about Keith so I don't want to steal all of Keith's thunder. But I would like to share one more thing. Keith had an idea that he may not be with us much longer once he learned the seriousness of his heart problems. He never let on to any one of us though. He never shared last wishes. His attitude was always good, he stayed upbeat, optimistic. He put his faith in the doctors at Ben Taub saying they were the best in the world. But he also confided in a few friends he may get to see his daddy. So this is how I picture it. This is what gives me comfort. The day Keith passed on from this world that fascinated him so much  I see him stepping into heaven. There are all these people and such sights he has never seen before. And a voice shouting out, I'm over her son! Here I am! and Keith seeing his daddy followed by a joyful embrace.

Keith's mission was accomplished  he lived a life of integrity and used the gifts God gave him to God's glory. But most of all: He loved with all his heart. 

Word from the Old Testament:
Psalm 73:26
Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.

Love always Keith,
Big Sis

Could the person who submitted the two wonderful photos of Keith at Disney please contact his family concerning higher resolutions or more photos?  They would truly love to have them.

Last night I went back to Keith's apartment for the first time since the day before his death last week.  I found a poem he was working on.  It illustrates how a man who struggled and suffered so his entire life had a deep appreciation for the sorrow of others  and he used his love of numbers  the place where he felt most understood to speak that.  Here is the poem: 

Half a Billon Tears (by Keith Miles)

While laying down in bed one night
my mind providing the only light
The thought occurred to me as I lay
that on any given average day
Half a billion tears fall from cries
of some forty million pairs of eyes.

I may be too conservative I fear
as to the number whose eyes tear
Only one percent in four billion
and only twenty five tears each then
With ones' one tear to even the score
of another's twenty four tears or more

Tears of sorrow and tears of mourning
The sweet tears of a baby crying
Tears of remembrance and of joy
Tears of a child for a broken toy
Tears of a drunk for a wasted life
Tears of pain that cut deep like a knife

I suppose most of the tears that fall,
are those of children innocents all,
whose emotions are pure and actions
free - are punished for their transgressions
of rules which they cannot understand
or for feelings they cannot comprehend

Twenty tears per millimemter say
twenty five thousand liters and weigh
at a one kilogram mass per
nine hundred eighty milliliter
Twenty five thousand and fifty one
metric tons, approximately done

It was a pleasure to work with Keith at Lone Star College and I will truly miss him.

OBITUARY

Keith Harrison Miles

October 6, 1961 – June 10, 2015

Memorial Oaks Cemetery

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