you will be missed.

on june 25, 2009 michael jackson suddenly went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 1426 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. i first heard it in the middle of my history class when some chick said michael jackson died. of course, i didn`t believe it, but a guy in my class looked it up & it was true. it wasn`t just on TMZ; it was on every major newsource out there: BBC, KCAL, CNN, LATIMES. it was then i knew it was true. over the next couple of days, i haven`t seen this amount of coverage & global mourning since Princess Diana. but his death made more of an impact on me emotionally & mentally than any celebrity`s death i could have ever anticipated or imagined. if i was still doing clinicals at UCLA when he died, i probably would be more emotional than i am now. good thing i`m not.

"THRILLER" was the first music video i ever saw . . . partly because i thought it was a movie, a musical, but nonetheless, a movie. when the video was over, i thought, "this is the shortest movie ever!" i was scared through the whole thing, though, with all the zombies. seriously, i was scared shitless. & that is how i will forever remember him. sure, he has many other hits & so many tabloid scandals, but all that pales in comparison of how i remember him: a true visionary & the one who introduced me to modern pop, hip hop & R&B. because of him, music became more than entertainment. it became the soundtrack to my life. any song reminds me of times past & i become nostalgic.

i think i have been affected by his death more than any other celebrity is because i grew up with him, as did my father. he was a staple of famous celebrities that i thought i would never have to live without because he was there since the beginning of my life. & the thing i hate most about his death is that he, michael jackson, king of pop, was coming back; he was on the rise again; he left things uncompleted // unfinished. so to this, i really hope his soul rests in peace. i don`t like thinking about what could've, would've, should've if he didn`t die. but he did, untimely, but he still is dead. his life is not immortal as i would like it to believe, but his music & influence will live on forever. so rest in peace, michael jackson. you have given us more than we can ever imagine and probably deserve. you will be missed, but never, EVER forgotten.