Some days surprise you

What a strange day it was to lose two legends within hours. RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Today at work, I checked CNN and noted Farah Fawcett had passed away. It obviously didn't surprise me as I had been hearing of her illness for months. I mentioned it in passing to a coworker and went about my day.

But, then, later that evening, we had a client event and in the distance I heard someone in the crowd mention that Michael Jackson had died. I, being the celebrity gossip hound that I am, immediately looked up and said, "what, no you mean Farrah Fawcett". And she said, "no, I just heard Michael Jackson died." I was shocked. That totally came out of left field.

Now, I grew up with Michael Jackson in my consciousness since I was about 8 years old. I was never a superfan but he was always there and I did my fair share of moonwalks in my day. But, it really shocked me to hear of him dying. A couple of things surprised me by my own reaction:

1) He apparently died from cardiac arrest. My father had a heart attack last month and is doing well now, but this reminded me of just how easily it could have gone the opposite way.

2) Even though Michael was much older than me, he was part of the collective memory of my generation. In some ways he defined parts of it... art, music, fashion. He truly was an American icon, even if some don't want to admit it.

When I got home, I immediately went to Facebook to gage the reaction and it ranged from mourning an artist to disgust that some were sad over the passing of a "pedophile".

My reaction is one of mourning, not necessarily for the man, but for the loss of what could have been if he had not been plagued by physical and mental illness. Imagine what more someone of his talents could have given the world, had he not turned into what he eventually became. The whole story is just sad.

Anyway, I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs: