Today is actually TMI Tuesday, and I had a blog ready to be written for it. After all, Pretty Ricky practically DARED me to write about sex today.
But on the day that we lay Michael Jackson to rest, I simply couldn't tear my thoughts away from him. This day should be a holiday. I'm mad that I'm at work instead of at the Staples Center. I feel like a member of my family is being buried today, not just Michael Jackson.
Just Michael Jackson. You shouldn't even put the word "just" in the same sentence as "Michael Jackson." His name is synonymous with genius, king, global icon.
Last night, Dateline showed footage of people from Cali to Sydney, London to Paris, Harlem to Tokyo, celebrating his life. They were impersonating him, singing his songs and dancing in the streets. They ranged in age from 3 years old to 90, all of them with the same love in their hearts for a man that touched generation after generation. My 5 year old nephew's favorite song? "Beat It." We played it no fewer than 10 times this past holiday weekend.
How do you say goodbye to a man who was the ultimate performer? How do you say goodbye to an entertainment mogul of his magnitude? How do you say goodbye to a global humanitarian? How do you say goodbye to the best who ever did it?
I won't.
I can't.
Instead, I choose to celebrate his life. I blast his music in my car - "I wanna rock with yooooouuuu!" and sing along at the top of my lungs...smile plastered across my face. I feel lucky to have experienced him, to have shared this earth with him.
Instead of mourning him, I choose to remember Michael for all the great things he did for children all around the world. I'll cherish the positive that surrounded his life, not the negative. I'll revel in the fact that this man evoked such emotion in people, myself included, that he brought them to tears. I'll appreciate him as a business man and consummate professional who set the stage for the likes of Usher and NeYo, and the standard by which all other artists should follow. I choose to continue to be amazed at his talent and how he constantly reinvented himself - yet stayed the same wonderful Michael. And I take today to thank God that He gave us such a wonderful gift of a human being and shared him with us for 50 years.
How do you say goodbye to someone whose life and legacy will live on forever through his music? How do you say goodbye to a life force whose spirit transcends and is too big for this world?
You don't.
You can't.
We never can say goodbye.
-b
