Tonight the world changed a bit for me. I am not going to get all sentimental over Michael Jackson, but I am a sucker for a happy ending. His wasn’t. His passing reminds me that I am no longer a carefree kid. Remembering “Man in the Mirror” from 1988 I am reminded how simple my life was and how easy the world was then. This was before college, before marriage, before a mortgage and kids. Before War, politics, policies and the Federal Reserve meant anything to me.
I had the parachute pants. The jacket with too many zippers and too few pockets. We watched Mtv around the clock trying to mimic his dance moves before the next school dance. Which of you Gen X’ers can say you never moonwalked in socks across your mom’s polished hardwood floors.
Here is what some of my friends have said tonight:
That MJ will be remembered as the man with perfect pitch. The dancer to rival Fred Astaire. The international music icon to surpass Elvis.
I agree.
From Twitter Dave said this:
I wonder if the death of MJ means my childhood is officially over?
Perhaps. Perhaps we are grown up when childhood stars and idols succumb to health, habit and choice and leave us earlier than they should. I hope that it causes the Gen X crowd to stop and inventory our lives. Fame, Fortune and all the toys of the world couldn’t repair the damaged between him and his father. We should remember that. Those hurts, voids and damages can’t be overcome with success and all the trappings of celebrity.
This is a clip that I love of MJ and how I will remember him.
1 response so far ↓
1 Jeri Greene-Beal // Jun 26, 2009 at 12:20 am
I remember my sister and I sitting and watching him and his brothers on Motowns 25th anniversary. I was CERTAIN that I was going to grow up and marry him! Watching him moonwalk across that stage, my sister and I screaming in the living room and my parents in the kitchen shaking their heads at us…one of my favorite childhood memories. It’s official! I’m all grown up! :O(
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