on june 25th, 2009 – the world lost one of it’s brightest stars. Michael Joseph Jackson.

i’ve been trying to process what this means to me, and i don’t think i could ever really articulate it but i know this event, this man and his music are a part of me, just as it’s a part of millions of others around the world.

i grew up listening to Michael Jackson’s music and my childhood is scattered with memories that in someway include him.

driving home from swimming lessons every week, sitting in the back seat with a slurpee in hand – thriller playing on cassette and my sister crying her eyes out at ‘scary voice’ at the end. being insanely jealous that a bunch of family friends went to his concert in sydney. the blue thriller t shirt (WHICH I’VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR FOR OVER 20 YEARS NOW — WHERE IS IT??) that i coveted as a 3 year old. loving that he recorded a version of smile. moonwalker on beta tape and being utterly amazed at the choreography. trying my best to morph like the people at the end of black or white, after brushing my teeth each night. watching the super bowl (a rare thing for a young aussie who didn’t know much about american football) performance over and over again. watching the we are the world music video as a 4 year old. i seriously contemplated heading over to see his UK shows during my maternity leave, but thought we may get a chance to see him here in australia again.

most recently, while i was pregnant with Jovie i decided that i needed to school her and Jasper in some classic Michael Jackson. we spent alot of time in the car driving Regan around or going to and from grandma’s house – so i popped in the greatest hits and was able to introduce them the songs that my father had once introduced me to also, all those years ago.

for a man that had his own childhood taken away from him, i would like to thank him for providing the soundtrack for my life so far, especially my childhood. these memories are worth more than gold to me, and Michael Jackson will continue to live for as long as music exists.