So, I couldn't think of any remote way to make the sad passing of Michael Jackson relevant to Twilight (Nikki Reed's crush? Meh), but I still want to pay personal tribute to the King of Pop. Many of my most exciting, happy and funny childhood memories include Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson's album was the very first TAPE that I owned as a child (yes, I pre-date the CD, people). I think we bought it from Bradlee's, a retailer that no longer exists.
Also, one of my fondest MJ-related memories is one of my sister's first gifts to me as a kid, a Nylon-velcro Michael Jackson wallet, which she and my dad bought for me at a flea market when I was about 6 or 7 years old. (So excited that I found a pic of a similar one above!) I wish that I still had it. :-(
And, MJ was there for my first huge lie; I'm not sure what possessed me to tell my best friend in the 1st grade (Kari Frandsen - Are you out there? I haven't talked to you in years!) that Michael Jackson had come to my house and played checkers with me in the backseat of our family's Datsun (again, something that no longer exists), but I still kind of feel bad about my fib. :-)
I can't say that I was a devoted fan of MJ, but his gigantic presence is interwoven with my own personal history, and I too can't believe that I now live in a world where he doesn't exist...
R.I.P. Michael. Thanks for the memories.
