Stunning moment in time - Michael Jackson

Thursday afternoon as I was leaving my office, I realized that I had forgotten something, so went back in to retrieve it. Several agents were in a circle having an animated discussion, and as I walked up one of the agents said, "TMZ is reporting that Michael Jackson has died." It stopped me in my tracks and I forgot what I came back in for - briefly. She continued, "Neither Fox or CNN are confirming it - they are saying that he has been taken to the hospital in a coma, possibly a heart attack."

All the memories of Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five sort of rushed back at me. We are very nearly the same age, and the Ed Sullivan Show was a huge part of my parents' lives, and mine. Michael Jackson was a darling child, and their dancing and their music rated right up there with The Beatles, The Partridge Family and the Osmonds in my heart (What? Yeah, I was a bubble gum pop kind of girl.) I grew up loving the Jackson Five, and danced so many nights away as a teenager to Michael Jackson tunes. My very first "slow dance" was to I'll Be There," on my twelfth birthday.

Over the years as he grew and fell, so did I. From afar, I saw the transformation of Michael to someone hardly recognizable as the Michael Jackson I once adored. I watched with horror as he changed and became this mega monstrous superstar with no boundaries, no brakes, and no real roots.

My adoration faded with time, but he was always there in the news and the tabloids. Sad. With "Man in the Mirror," I think we got a rare glimpse into the spirit of Michael. Now he's gone and I find myself humming and singing my old favorites, and occasionally breaking out into a dance to the "Billie Jean" in my head. I guess this is what they mean when they say, "...but his music will live on forever."

Rest In Peace Michael Jackson.