Goodbye, Michael

As someone who works in the news business, not much shocks me.  But I must say... the death of Michael Jackson truly, truly shocked me.  And frankly, it made me sad.

In fact, I've been trying to psychoanalyze myself... trying to figure out why I've taken news of  Jackson's passing so hard. 

Yes, I loved his music.  Yes, I watched with intrigue as his life took a bizarre and somewhat sinister turn.  But I have a hard time figuring out why I care so much... until I received the following email.  It's from a man who knew me when I was a loud-mouthed kid in Montreal. He was the youth pastor at my church, who remembered me all these years later when he heard about Michael Jackson's passing. Here's a portion of his message:

Hello, Shelley:

I don't know if you remember me but I was your Sunday School teacher and Youth Pastor many years ago in Montreal.

Strange how the mind works. When I heard about the passing away of Michael Jackson I immediately thought of one person: Shelley Walcott, a girl I taught in my pre-teen Sunday School class and youth group at Golden Baptist Church, Montreal. You loved MJ and gave us updates on his life every week (those were the "Thriller" years). That was, what?, 25 years ago? And yet I remembered you clearly

I knew that you were in broadcasting somewhere in the States and thought you must have a work blog and would probably write something about MJ. Sure enough, a quick Google search turned up your post.

And with this email, I remembered:  I once LOVED Michael Jackson.  Talked about him ad nauseum, to the point where my Sunday School teacher from 25 years ago had to message me about his death.  Michael Jackson was a huge part of my social experience.  His music was the soundtrack of my youth.  And I forgot how deeply ingrained he was.

Rest in peace Michael.  My hope is that you are in the arms of the angels.  May you find some comfort there.