On Mr. Jackson…

by meandthestereo

I was shocked. I was stunned.

I sat speechless in my friend’s car as NPR confirmed the news that he had died. And I was genuinely sad.

Then, NPR cut to a worker who had, somehow, already put together some sort of montage for us to listen to. You never expect these things, but the media is always ready for them. That kind of kills the mourning period for me.

Now everything I look at online, on newstands, or on TV has been flooded with images of him. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to remember:

- As a young child, styling my hair to make the iconic curl with the tips of my bangs.

- During my youth, having the crap scared out of me every Halloween while watching the ‘Thriller’ music video.

- When I lived back home in Texas, with my bunk-beds, and had the ‘Bad’ album art hanging on my wall.

- Thinking I wanted to be like Macaulay Culkin because he was in the ‘Black or White’ music video.

- Learning to play the bass guitar, and using ‘Billie Jean’ as my warm-up tune before a show.

Having Mr. Jackson’s music in my life was wonderful and exciting. I’m a little happier knowing I’ll get to one day share it with my children.

Goodbye, Mr. Jackson. Thanks for the tunes.