Goodbye, Michael

I am truly saddened by the death of Michael Jackson. I wasn't a rabid fan, but he and his music have been in my life for what seems like forever. My teeny-bopper friends and I danced to Jackson 5 records in my best friends basement, "Thriller" remains one of my favorite albums, I applauded his humanitarian effort with "We Are the World", and I thought Neverland would be a cool place to live. And, in my opinion, the "Thriller" video is the best ever made. Yes, he became reclusive and strange. Yes, he altered his appearance in bizarre ways. Yes, he was accused of terrible things. But in spite of all that, I always thought he seemed just....sad. Sad and alone. It seemed that the older he got, the younger he acted. He lived most of his life in the public eye and who knows what that does to a person. I myself continue to battle demons from my childhood, so I am certainly not going to sit in judgement on someone who obviously had his own childhood issues to deal with. Or maybe it was because he never actually had a childhood, just a job. Granted, it was a great job - performing, making tons of money, that whole star thing, but it surely wasn't a traditional childhood. He could sing, he could dance, he could write beautiful music and he gave all of that to us and for that I'm grateful.

Rest in peace, Michael. You've earned it.