In Honor of The Gloved One's B-day

Today marks what would have been Michael Joseph Jackson's 51st birthday. Although we are extremely sad he is not here to celebrate with us, I have no doubt he's moonwalking across the heavens right now. A young person who never even heard of Michael Jackson until 8 months ago wrote a beautifully touching letter upon his passing. In honor of the man who has touched so many, here are her sentiments.

Dear Michael,

You will never get this. Considering that at this day and time, you have passed away a couple days ago, I am not disappointed. Besides, at your age, and my age, it would be rather odd for you to respond to this letter. Still, I am writing it, if only as a way to express myself and my prayers to you in heaven. Because, obviously, once having passed, you are an angel. You have always been an angel, alone on this planet with no one to understand you.

I do not pretend to understand, no, I only to seek to inform you that I know and acknowledge your pain. I want you to know, even if as I pray you can’t hear, that if I had been there those lonely nights you spent walking around after dark, I would’ve stayed and talked to you. I wouldn’t have cared that you were the famous Michael Jackson, or that you were rich. I believe that you would have found a kindred spirit in me. Know that, even if you felt otherwise, Michael, out of all your ‘adoring’ fans, there were those like me who really loved you. And I know I was born at least twenty if not thirty years too late to be saying this to you, but as I type and think this in my head I can only hope you get this where you are, up in the sky. As I read and learn more about you from those countless interviews that you did, I realize that as I looked at pictures of you where your smile hasn’t quite reached your eyes (and yes, there are many) I can identify what it is that pulls at my heartstrings even as you grin. I realize that it’s the loneliness that peeks out from behind your big brown eyes that mars the pictures where you pose so obediently. I look at these pictures, and I can almost feel how isolated you felt, how lonely you were. The intense feeling is almost suffocating in some of your more somber pictures. You didn’t know, you didn’t grasp that there were many who loved you. Not just as fans love a superstar, but as a person loves another. I know that I love you, and always will, and that I feel sorry for you, because no one understood you as a person. I understand you had your quirks like other people, and that putting you on a pedestal means that at any moment you could fall, but I do admire you as a hero, and I love you too much to express.

I wish I could’ve met you, because I’m sure you would’ve agreed with me when I say that we would make good friends. I feel like people judge you before they really learn about you, and that they ignore your genius in favor of slamming you with bad rumors and reputations. I know you felt like a big kid stuck as an adult, but I think that some of the things you did, only an adult could’ve done. And I’m glad that you being a big kid, you gave numerous kids a voice. You introduced people to the viewpoint of a child, and that in and of itself is amazing. God put you here for a reason, and I think that was to find a way to bring the world together. People loved you from all over the world, and everywhere you go you will always find a Michael Jackson fan, if not a whole bunch of them. You definitely brought people together, and even if someone goes somewhere completely strange to them, if they sing one of your better known songs, people will join in. You accomplished one of your personal missions, and that was, I theorize, to bring people from all over the world together.

I think on how strong you must have been to bear the weight of how lonely you were, and I think that your heart was shattered long before it gave out for real. Your thin shoulders were not made to bear the weight of shattered emotions, but they did for a long while, and that’s what makes you a hero and an angel to me.

Love,
One of the biggest fans you will never get to meet.

Copywrite© 2009

She pretty much sums it up. I will always love you, MJ, and your music will continue to live on as you will in my heart. Happy Birthday!