Rest in peace, Michael Jackson

My thought for the day.....about Michael Jackson: He had such a rough life, most of his life, so I think maybe God said, "I will give you an easy death." If I had to choose between the way he died, and the way Farrah Fawcet and Ed McMahon died, I would choose the way Michael died, just keel over and plop, and it's all done. No wasting away in a stupid hospital, waiting for death to come.

I recently saw the movie "The Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in it, and I gotta say, it was very well done. It was inspiring and really makes you think about how you want to go out of this life. I highly recommend seeing that movie.

Another thought about Michael Jackson: His life was a three-ring circus most of the time, so in his DEATH, don't let it continue to be another circus. Have some respect for the guy. Listen to his music, dance, celebrate him, but don't buy bootleg t-shirts that some schmuck sells on the street corner, or get caught up in the almost Elvis-like hysteria of memorabilia and don't disrespect him by allowing others to do those things either. If you REALLY want to respect him, donate $20 bucks to a charity of your choice, in memory of him.

I am not looking forward to growing older, because I don't want to go through the deaths of my favorite people, or my family members, or loved ones that I don't get to see very often. The day will come when Miep Gies will die. She is 100 years old in February. I will be inconsolable. I don't want to cry my eyes out when Steve Perry dies either, but he's in his 60's now, so that day will come and I'll be inconsolable for a very long time. I sometimes wonder who will die first, me or (add name here)... like, my friend Laurie....will she die before me, or will I go first? What about my mom and sisters, and Pete, and my dog.... ya know, I sit and think about these things, I even talk about them sometimes, (much to the dismay of whomever I'm talking to).

But I never expected Michael Jackson to keel over like that, out of the blue. He was only 50 years old for cripes sake!! I mean, Ed McMahon, okay, he was in his late 80's...he had a great life....so that doesn't FEEL as sad for some reason. And Farrah, my God she was a strong woman, and I admire her courage and her positive outlook even during her last days...she had a good life too though, and despite having a very difficult death for a long time of deteriorating, somehow it's not as sad.

But Michael Jackson, wow, what a tragic thing, what a very sad life and lonely life he had. Sure, he had money but who cares?? Money doesn't balm the wounds of not having a childhood. That poor guy just wanted his childhood back. That's all. It's perfectly psychologically understood that he was robbed of his own childhood, and grew up missing part of himself. He looked for it everywhere outside of himself for the rest of his days. He never knew that it was still there inside him because he was never allowed to have it in the first place, so he didn't know it was even there the whole time. That is what makes him such a tragic figure, in my opinion. He was very misunderstood, wrongfully accused of child molestation, ACQUITTED of that accusation, but smeared and libeled so much that he had no other choice but to become a recluse. For the media to harp on that aspect of his life, after all that he's accomplished in the music business since the day he was 5 years old, is just unacceptable to me.

I remember when I bought THRILLER, in high school, and how absolutely blown away I was by it. To this day, his music is TIMELESS. There is a Peter-Pan quality of innocence in his music that he could never seem to achieve in his own personal life. The magic and the happiness he poured out of his soul for his fans and people who appreciated his music, could not sustain HIM, and for that I feel sorry for him. I wish he could have achieved happiness within himself before he died. I really do.

He'll be forever missed and remembered and mourned. It's almost like when Elvis died, and I remember THAT day very well. I was almost 9 years old, (same age as Lisa Marie), and my family and I were driving to visit some friends for the evening, and we heard it on the radio. I cried for 8 months, every night, because my bedroom had Elvis posters all over the place, and I listened to his albums before I went to bed. My mom was starting to really worry about me but eventually I took the posters down, and stopped listening to his music every night. But I loved him. I really truly loved Elvis, and when he died, I was devastated.

Then I started loving the Beatles and especially John Lennon. I had posters of him all over my bedroom walls, and listened to their music all the time, until December 8, 1980, when he was shot and killed. I remember THAT day very well too.

And then, I turned my sights onto Journey at the age of 10, only just curious about them at first, then intrigued when I saw a poster of them, thinking Steve Perry was the sexiest beast on the planet, and oh my GAWD it made me tingle in all the naughty places whenever I heard his voice, God Bless Him...so I had posters of him and of Journey all over my walls....until they broke up.

(GRRRRRR. I'm a friggin' JINX man).

Anyway, but I digress. Michael Jackson changed music and the world, and for that I am forever grateful to him and I love listening to his songs even now, I still remember the words to most of them, and I will always feel that he is now relieved of his misery and can now be free to rest in peace.

Love, Becky