You Are Not Alone…

Over the last 36 hours and in the coming weeks, millions of bloggers will post personal reflections on Michael Jackson. I am no different.

The title of this post comes from a Michael Jackson song entitled, “You Are Not Alone.”   Whenever I hear it, I recall fond memories of my mom who passed away over two years ago, because those were among her last words to me.  So, on many levels, I appreciate Michael Jackson for crafting a song that binds me to memories of a wonderful woman.

Every now and then, a generation is blessed with a musical talent which defines the goals and aspirations of that generation.  During the fifties and early sixties, the icon was Elvis Presley.  During the late sixties and early seventies, the icon was the Beatles and the individual members of the group.  Michael Jackson defined the eighties.  Over the last decade, Jackson’s legal problems and bizarre behavior did much to tarnish the image of the man, but could not diminish the musical legacy he left behind. 

My granddaughter is 2 1/2 years old.  She has never seen Michael Jackson perform and couldn’t point him out in crowd, but she knows his music.  Her favorite song is unsurprisingly, “Thriller.” When she visits, I play the song and we both move and spin and clap  (no sane person would call what we do dancing) to the music and then laugh the maniacal laugh along with Vincent Price at the very end.  “Thriller” re-enforces our family bond and links her musical taste and memory to me.  As she gets older, she may not remember all the time we spent together, but she’ll never be able to forget Jackson’s music and recall, I hope fondly, that she had a grandfather who wanted her to know that she will never be alone. 

That’s a pretty good legacy.