MJJ - My Last Tribute

Michael Jackson is gone. We've seen the tributes. I understand the time restriction of it, but come on it's Michael Jackson. We watched the memorial. Kenny Ortega. I would love to work with him. The memorial was something wonderful. While I did not watch the whole memorial, I watched the memorable clips. From Brooke Shields' eulogy to Jermaine Jackson's reindition of Charlie Chaplin's Smile to Magic Johnson's funny anecdote to Usher's tender touch of the casket as he sang it was marvelous. There's so many wonderful moments you can speak about.

The thing I enjoyed about the memorial for the first time in my life Michael Jackson seemed human just like the rest of us. For a long time we put him on this pedestal. Michael Jackson created this phenomenon of a superstar. He then became a slave to his superstardom. It was what he strived for, but very few could relate to him due to his status or talent. Michael Jackson was a little strange. What he dealt with was extremely strange things with his family, friends, fans and the media. Michael Jackson became a prisoner to his own success. I don't pity him, for he created that mass hysteria around himself.

There has never been a man that singlehandedly created a persona like Michael Jackson. For he wasn't just an entertainer, Jackson was a humanitarian. He understood the meaning of giving back to those unfortunate. In the 80s he became friends with the AIDS patient, Ryan White. At that time HIV and AIDS patients were treated as if they needed to be 'quarantined.' That's when AIDS was a 'gay disease.' However, Michael Jackson only saw a boy in need. The relationship between Ryan White and Michael Jackson became international news. Michael Jackson brought a focus to HIV, AIDS and its research.

During the memorial I realized that for his family and friends he was just Michael or MJ. He was a loving man who was naive at times. He loved his family and friends. He loved his children. He loved his fans, for he understood without his fans his life as he knew it wouldn't be possible. He was wonderfully human with extraordinary talents. Now Michael Jackson can lay to rest knowing he will always be one of the very best to ever do it, ENTERTAINING. He was an entertainer. Let's not forget that he was human first. MJJ, you will surely missed.