CHAD MICHAEL, MITO & WHEATON

Chad Michael and his boyfriend Mito run their own successful small business in Los Angeles. They are both designers of high end window displays in upscale retail stores. I have known Chad Michael for the better part of 10 years and watched him start out as a cater waiter, and do a million other part time jobs until he really found his passion for creating window displays. He and his boyfriend Mito both live and went into business together, which can be difficult in any relationship, but somehow they make it work. Since I've been back in LA, we've become close friends. They throw this amazing pumpkin carving party every Halloween at their house in West Hollywood that I attended for the first time this year and had a blast at.

Chad Michael and Mito both love animals. Between the 2 of them they have a bird, a cat, a dog, a tarantula (!), and a large Galapagos size tortoise (WTF!). Despite their home zoo, they were always so nice about taking care of my African Grey parrot Wheaton whenever I would go away for a week or more on vacation. Chad Michael and Mito were always so good to him, paid him so much attention and took great care of him. Ever since I had moved back Chad Michael asked me if I could keep Wheaton's red tail feathers for him. I'm paraphrasing, but his quote was something like, "I don't know where or how I'm going to use them, but can you collect his red feathers and give them to me?" Fine by me, I always threw them out anyway, so I did.

Sadly over the holidays, Wheaton passed away after 20 years. It was really sad for me, he was my favorite pet ever. Wheaton was with me in Miami and I moved him across the U.S. with me when I moved to LA. Chad Michael and Mito were both sad too when they heard that he passed.

About a month later I got a text out of the blue from Chad Michael saying that they had used Wheaton's feathers in a Valentine's window display they had just completed. I really was so touched by that. It was a really sweet tribute. Wheaton's feathers are in the plume of the arrow.