Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Wow, Paris, you got me

It's one of those 'where were you when...' with Michael Jackson. June 25th I was at Williams-Sonoma buying a wedding gift. I was already saddened by the death of Farrah Fawcett from cancer earlier that day. As I was looking for the perfect gift (because, let's face it: WS is the best), I passed by a WS associate on the phone and overheard her say, "Michael Jackson died". I immediately thought it was a joke but wanted to check- I turned to her and asked "what?!" and she confirmed it to be true. I'm sure I was absolutely rude as I continued to question and get more details as she was still on the phone.

But I couldn't believe it. It hit me- I remember thinking and feeling at that very moment how precious life is and how short it can sometimes be.

I didn't listen to his music a ton growing up but I certainly appreciate it all and especially those dance moves! Wow. Say what you will about his personal life but after the interviews I've seen and today's memorial service, I was touched. I teared up through parts of the service but it wasn't until the very end when his daughter spoke that the floodgates opened. I think that's what made it personal for me- his family & children on the stage and to actually see their loss displayed in words & tears.

Even though I haven't been consumed by his death (reading all the magazines, watching tv, etc) I can't help but get caught up in the significance. It's like that one time my sisters, Dad & I went to see the Dixie Chicks live in concert- at one part they stopped singing and had the audience finish the song. Of course we all knew the lyrics and as I looked around, I was overwhelmed by the amount of people all singing together. Another time I've felt this is in the Fall w/ the NYC marathon. I find it absolutely amazing & humbling how people will cheer strangers on with such love & excitement. All this to say, I think I'm a sucker for mass events- when people are all joined together for one cause or event, is something that overwhelms me in a mostly good & emotional way.

But time moves on- and so shall I. What a weekend I have ahead of me and if you've been following this blog at all you know what it holds!

1 comment:

Tails from the City said...

Even though I think Michael Jackson was an anti-semetic pedophile, I too cried when I saw the clip of his daughter talking about him...:(