A Crazy Day

Sometime past I had a conversation with my mother about how certain celebrities or politicians define an era or generation. Certainly for my mom’s generation it was the death of J.F.K. that defined the sixties. In the seventies she said the passing of Elvis Presley left an indelible mark. I shared that John Lennon’s murder was a defining moment and I’ll never forget where I was or what I was doing when I heard the horrible news.

I feel this way today with the shocking news that Michael Jackson died suddenly at age 50. Always slender and seemingly in good health, I never imagined that he would die so young. Yes, I said young. The average life expectancy is 80 years old, which means Jackson died prematurely by 30 years. So yes, it is very shocking to me.

I was at work when my mom phoned to tell me that the media was reporting Michael Jackson may have been rushed to the hospital due to cardiac arrest. I can understand the media being evasive as immediate family members should always be the first to know.

I immediately went outside to surf the web for real time information about what was occurring. I tried for 7 minutes and could not connect to anything - not even Summize.com. It was like the entire Internet and web were down.

When my mom phoned again to tell me there were unconfirmed reports of his death, I felt strangely light headed. Here was someone I identified with as being from my generation and I couldn’t quite process the information. Disbelief enveloped me.

The Jackson Five and later Michael Jackson were the soundtrack of my life. So many rites of passage are recalled when I listen to I'll Be There, Got To Be There, Dancing Machine, Billie Jean, Off The Wall, etc.
It’s been a crazy day with the passing of Farrah Fawcett, even if her demise was expected due to cancer I was greatly saddened by her death. And then several hours later on this same day we lost Michael Jackson.  Immediately Farrah Fawcett was relegated to the sidebar on the front page of the L.A. Times.

I vaguely remember Charlie's Angels probably because I didn't watch much T.V. then. I was always more of a music lover, but nonetheless, after viewing the documentary about Farrah's three year battle I had nothing but admiration for her courage and desire to live.

So we have lost two wonderful people today, two individuals who have brought us a lot of joy and entertained us through the years. May they rest in peace.