You are not alone...

Heal the world, make it a better place. For you and for me and the entire human race. There are people dying, if you care enough for the living... make a better place...

Today, people will be laughing and smiling more than they have in a long time. You can't talk about Michael Jackson without remembering one of his songs and telling a story about how it carried you through a rough time, made you jump up and dance at a club, or made you blast your car stereo. You can't help but say how even your mom who doesn't know how to turn on a computer, knows who Michael Jackson is. And there is no way you can talk about Michael Jackson without starting to sing and suddenly your heart lifts up, your face breaks into a smile and you know that this man did something good.

Beat me, hate me, You can never break me. Will me, thrill me, You can never kill me. Do me, sue me, Everybody do me. Kick me, strike me, Don't you black or white me. All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us.

It was strange to see all the news coverage this morning. The past decade, his blunders and ours, are forgotten. People are praising him, talking about his influences on music and the world. But even recently the media and most people ridiculed him, often referring to him as a freak show. The latter half of his career was plagued with allegations of misconduct. And now in his death, they see his humanity. Like all of us, he returns ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

People say I'm not okay 'cause I love such elementary things...It's been my fate to compensate, for the Childhood I've never known... Have you seen my Childhood? I'm searching for that wonder in my youth…

He entered our lives when he was just six years old. For more than four decades he gave us his music and his self. We saw him struggle with his identity and his past and were here to welcome him back as he prepared for a new future with his comeback tour. e.e. cummings said, “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." This was Michael Jackson’s struggle. One of the reasons that he will be so greatly remembered is because he gave from his essence- there will never be another like him.

They told him don't you ever come around here, don't wanna see your face, you better disappear. The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear. So beat it, just beat it.

The years of abuse in the media only drove him away though. In 1983 he gave his first interview since 1979 where he dispelled many rumors and myths on Oprah. But the public was unforgiving and eventually Jackson faded from the public eye. Even though he was not making music or working on major projects, Michael Jackson continued to make his impact on the world.

A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart and a washed-out dream , they follow the pattern of the wind, ya' see cause they got no place to be, that's why I'm starting with me...

He donated over 300 million USD to various foundations in his lifetime. "We Are the World" which he co-wrote with Lionel Richie became the anthem for African relief work and helped raise millions of dollars for the continent. All the profits for "Man in the Mirror" went to charity and he founded the Heal the World Foundation which helped children threatened by war and disease. The list goes on and on so much that he is in the Guinness Book of World Records for supporting more charities than any other entertainer or personality.

Every day create your history, every path you take you're leaving your legacy.

Throughout his life, Michael Jackson struggled with the man in the mirror. His changing face got as much coverage as his music. People couldn't understand his need to morph but like all of us, he was struggling to reconcile the person he saw with someone he could love. All I can think of is how incredibly tired he must have been. But still, even to the end he was willing to give himself, to us who rejected him and to us who loved him. For years his music has carried me through my hardest times, he was an imaginary friend I talked to and his struggles reminded me of how delicate we are. His life, his music and his legacy will carry on eternally and I pray that he finds eternal peace. Ameen.

Like a comet

Blazing 'cross the evening sky

Gone too soon

Like a rainbow

Fading in the twinkling of an eye

Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly

And splendidly bright

Here one day

Gone one night

Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon

Gone too soon

Like a castle

Built upon a sandy beach

Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower

That is just beyond your reach

Gone too soon

Born to amuse

To inspire to delight

Here one day

Gone one night

Like a sunset

Dying with the rising of the moon

Gone too soon

Gone too soon