Memories of Michael

Thriller was the first album I ever purchased with my own money.  I remember walking by the music store at the Hillsdale Shopping Center while out shopping with my parents when I was 10 and needing Michael Jackson’s album so badly.  At the time, Thriller was all over the radio, along with Madonna and Huey Lewis and the News, but I wanted Michael’s album more than any of the others. I handed over the $8.99 plus tax and proudly carried my tape home with me.  I pulled the cassette out of its plastic box so many times to listen to Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin’ Something, and others over and over again on my Sony Walkman, memorizing the lyrics to all the songs on the album. 

Tonight when my husband came home, we talked about the death of Michael Jackson as we were preparing dinner.  We reminisced about some of his great songs, our failed attempts to learn to do the moonwalk, humanitarian efforts through the recording of We Are the World, and all the sensationalistic news that the media loved including Michael’s hair catching on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, rumors of sleeping in an oxygen chamber, a marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, and his appearance on an MTV awards show to accept a fabricated award.

During a pause in our conversation, our 5 ½ year old daughter asked us who died.  We looked at each other, trying to find a way to summarize who Michael Jackson was to her.  Before I could even speak, my husband located some Jackson 5 songs on our iPod, started playing ABC, and told her that the man who sang the song had died.  She nodded as she swayed to tune of the familiar song.

The end of Michael Jackson’s life may have been riddled with controversy but his music is legendary.  May his music live on forever for generations to come.

Original DC Metro Moms post.

When Leticia isn’t giving her kids a musical education, she helps parents find quality technology resources for their kids at Tech Savvy Mama.  She’s also the City Editor at Being Savvy Washington DC.