It all started 18 years ago. An arranged marriage between his mother, Pearl Winters-Bishop, a young japanese woman, and Father, Paul Bishop a half-Korean half-american man. After a year of being married to the man, she had gotten pregnant. She was ecstatic, but her husband would not feel the same. He would try to persuade her to abort the pregnancy, but she stuck through it.

After being a few months along, she would discover she was having twin boys. She told her husband, who finally began to step up after learning they were having sons. Fast forward to the birth. The first born, Jace Bishop, was born healthy after a 6 hour labor. Their second son, Micah Bishop, however, had a problem at birth. He had to be delivered through a C-Section. After being extracted from his mother, the doctors took him away, as he wasn't breathing. He would be in the NICU for a week before being let home.

He grew up being really weak compared to his older, healthier twin brother. Micah being born weak disappointed his father, who then began to prefer his other son. Micah would not get abused by his father, but was neglected horribly. This would then carry over to his mother, who would also spend all her time with his older brother. Micah would learn from a young age how horrible people could be.

His family life was horrible. The boy was not taught how to speak properly, having to learn on his own and from school. The boy would have to listen and imitate his parents speaking to his brother. It took him much longer to learn the Korean language at home. It was only possible because of the help of his wonderful teachers at school. They would take him personally and teach him English. After he got a grasp of the common language, his teacher, Ms. Sato would begin to teach him Korean. She did not know the language, but took it upon herself to learn the language alongside Micah.

Before and after classes from pre-k to 1st grade, she would take him aside and teach him. They would use flashcards and a dictionary that would translate Korean words into English and vice versa. The boy would learn his teacher would live a few houses down from him. He would go over to her home to practice more and more until he had the fundamentals down for the language. The boy thought he was sneaking out of the home, but it was more his parents knew, but did not care. The boy would also take flash cards from his teacher and stay up all night, quizzing himself on the language. He would celebrate with a high five to himself after getting all the questions he asked himself correct.

The boy, after learning the language, would sit with his family in front of the television and learn more from watching the shows in Korean. He would be able to understand more and helped Ms. Sato with the language as well. Even after learning the language on his own, his family still prized his healthier brother.

Micah would begin to resent his older brother, who was clearly the golden child of the family. Micah would be left out during holidays and given second hand clothing, while his brother would get brand new clothes and toys. His twin brother would be spoiled beyond belief and would show it off to everyone. Micah shut himself in and stuck to himself, writing poems and learning how to play the guitar. This guitar was one he got himself with all the money he saved from all the holidays and held much sentimental value to the boy. Around age 9, Jace would realize how horrible he treated his brother and decided to stop parading around and let his brother be hurt and neglected. He tried to speak to their parents, but they thought Micah set him up to do it, so they told Jace he did not have to listen to his brother and they would punish the boy.

Jace, realizing his parents behavior would not change, decided to become the best brother he could. He would begin to protect his brother from the bullying at school and invited him into his friend group. Micah, thinking it was a trick at first, would not open up for weeks, months even. It was eventually when Micah was getting bullied by a group of kids and his brother took the hits, protecting him, that Micah realized how much his brother truly wanted to become closer. To become brothers.

After getting home all beat up, the boy’s mother took them out of school and had them homeschooled. The boys would grow closer due to that, but still had friends from school before they were taken out. Micah was not getting properly taught by their mother, so Jace took it into his own hands to teach Micah. Micah would end up learning himself and teaching his brother to repay his kindness.

By age 11, the boys were best friends and inseparable. Micah had joined his brother in his adventures with their friends. He had gotten healthier and was basically as good of a kid as any 11 year old was. Micah had broken out of his nervous shell. His humor would make the room erupt with laughter and his smile would melt the hearts of anyone he came into contact with. The boy had developed manners and complemented everyone he would meet, wanting to make sure to leave a good impression.

On their 13th birthday, his brother had taken one of their dad's cars and went on a road trip with him and a group of their friends. The boys would each take turns driving, having fun doing so. It had begun to rain before it was Micah’s turn, so he was nervous, but the boys all persuaded him to try it. When Micah got behind the wheel, he would not stop giggling. He felt grown up, being in the driver's seat. Like he could take control of his own life, still being scarred from his childhood. This fantasy would come crashing down when the car hydroplaned in front of a Semi-Truck.

Out of the 5 passengers, 2 survived. Micah and his brother, who then passed during surgery. Micah would be in a coma for around 3 months. When he finally came to, he would ask where his brother was. He had missed the funeral and was not allowed to visit the grave. He would be allowed to leave the hospital a month after he woke up.

His father yelled at him and beat Micah an inch from his life when they were allowed home. He would then smash his treasured guitar in front of Micah’s eyes. The sight of his smashed guitar brought him to tears and the boy broke down. This is when the family fell apart. His father began to work himself to death. His mother mourned day and night for years. And Micah bore the weight of his brother's death on his shoulders. He began to work to support his family. His father began to drink and became a monster. His father would abuse Micah everytime he would show his face, and his mother would be seen with new bruises every day. His mother would blame the boy for the family’s troubles.

The last straw was when his mother passed. At age 15, his father disowned him and sent him away. After being sent away from his home, he abandoned his last name and took on his brother’s name. He would wipe away his family history and replace his family name with “Jace”, the name of his hero.

His father would send Micah to his grandparents, who lived in Japan. They lived 5 miles North of Karakura. Micah would believe his grandparents were exactly like his parents, but it was not the case. When he arrived, he was greeted with a tight hug from his grandfather and homemade cooking from his grandmother. The boy broke down crying. He would try to thank her, but she wouldn’t respond to him. Micah would feel like she did not want anything to do with him, until his grandfather told him that she was deaf.

The boy would watch his grandfather sign to her and she would smile after what he had told her. Micah had no clue what they were talking about, but was happy to see his grandmother smile. His grandmother then took out an old notebook, dusted it off and began to write in it to speak to Micah. After living with them for a few weeks, Micah asked his grandfather to teach him JSL. His grandfather was proud of how the boy took it into his own hands to learn. He woke Micah up early, 4 am, before school every day to teach him before he left for the day, and for a few hours after school when he was done with his work.

The boy would also take it into his own hands to watch tutorials on JSL, learning as much as he could when his grandfather was busy with his grandmother. Micah would also spend more time with his grandmother to practice JSL when his grandfather would go out shopping or to work. He loved speaking with her, even if she had to use the notebook to correct the boy. Micah would learn how to cook from his grandmother. He was a natural in the kitchen, making the most delicious of meals. His grandfather was proud of his grandson and would make sure to tell the boy so.

The boy would live with his grandparents for two years. During this time, he grew close to them and felt unconditional love from them. But on that fateful day, his grandmother’s cancer had relapsed. The boy would not leave her side, crying and not sleeping for days on end. One of the days when he was asleep, his grandmother passed happily, scratching her grandson’s head beside her. When Micah awoke, he cried harder and was inconsolable. His grandfather was his savior when he believed he hit rock bottom. This would only last 3 months, when his grandfather had gotten horribly sick. The boy would take on as many jobs to keep his grandfather comfortable.

When his grandfather knew that his time was coming, he took Micah aside. He told the boy, “Stay strong, no matter what life throws at you. You are the best child a man can ask for. I know what you went through at home. We know what our daughter did to you. We know what happened to your brother..” The boy, after hearing that, froze and broke down crying again. His grandfather would wipe the tears from the boy’s eyes. “Let me finish. Don’t blame yourself for that. It was his time, as it was your mothers, grandmothers, and soon to be mine. You are such a lovely child. Do not let that smile fade. Don’t lose that purity in your heart. Your brother.. You kept him beside you. In spirit, and in name. Your grandmother was so proud of you for that, even though she never told you. All I have to say is, I love you, my boy..” After his grandfather uttered those last words, he laid down and passed with a smile on his face.

The boy would take the kind words his grandfather told him and lived by them. The boy would keep up his cheerful attitude as much as he could and always smiled through the hardest of times. He would sometimes crack up a few times in public, but would mostly feel the most pain at night. He would think about all the loss in his life, but would then remember what his grandfather told him. And he would be proud to have made an impact on their lives. He was happy to have made such close bonds, and to feel loved by those who were close to him. He would then sell and move out of the house. He would then make his way to find a new home, where he stumbled upon Karakura. The boy would decide to settle there and start his new life.

Micah's Photos