The Untimely Death of My Idol
By Gia, age 17, Florida
I was sitting in front of my computer screen, updating my Twitter account for the millionth time, when gossip columnist Perez Hilton updated about Michael Jackson having a heart attack. I didn't think anything of it until 10 minutes later when I checked Perez's website. The headline was "TMZ Reports Michael Jackson Dead." I never really believed what TMZ wrote so I turned on the news. Every news station was reporting about him being sent to the hospital, that he was in a coma and that he had died. I was in pure and utter shock. I started bawling my eyes out like it was my own family member who had passed away.
To understand why I was so shaken up by Michael Jackson's death, we have to travel back a few years. I spent the majority of the year when I was 14 listening to Michael, and Michael only. I owned not only his "Number 1" hits, but for Christmas the previous year I was given the two disc greatest hits CD, from when he was in the Jackson 5 to the most recent songs. All I wanted to do was listen to Michael and dance like he did. Three years later, at 17, I was still pretty crazy about "The Gloved One."
I spent the week after his death like I did when I was 14. I listened to Michael and only Michael, and cried. The whole reason I wanted to dance was because of him. Some may say I'm crazy to idolize him because of his past. I don't look at him as the person portrayed in the tabloids. I saw him as a humanitarian, a father, and probably the greatest musician of all time. To me, whether he was or was not what the media said never mattered. I wasn't one of those fans who only liked him when he was on top. I loved him throughout the trials, and even when he was sick months ago. I'm actually immortalizing him as a tattoo. I haven't actually picked out the final design, but I want either a silhouette or a picture of the earth with a sparkling glove and lyrics from "Heal The World."
The memorial service at the Staples Center was beautiful, fitting for the King of Pop. I sobbed my eyes out when his daughter spoke and when everyone sang "We Are the World." Michael Jackson never seemed to let down his biggest fans; he never let me down. I will miss him, but I know that we still celebrate him as a musician because music like his never dies. So even now, as I'm writing this and listening to his music, I can smile and know that he will forever live, even if he isn't physically with us here on earth.
Rest in Peace, Michael Joseph Jackson.
1958-2009