Michael Jackson is Dead

How very strange that I should have emotions about his passing. But when we came home today from our Best Buy trip, the television was on, and there was the news: Michael Jackson is dead.

And I thought about the fact that my sister's first purchased cassette tape was one of Michael Jackson's. Was it Thriller or Bad, Michelle? Help me remember.

I remember how we took this Michael Jackson cassette tape to our very conservative Christian friends' house in California. Michelle thought they might want to listen to it with us. I mean, how seriously cool that we had "rock" music to listen to. And then it turned out that our ultra-conservative friends weren't even allowed to use the tempo button on their electronic keyboard. Uh, okay. Slide that Michael Jackson tape back in the suitcase and leave it there.

Michael Jackson is the first of the pop icons I grew up with to die.

Usually my parents are the ones who know who the recently-dead famous people are. Like, we'll be watching the news together and somebody's picture will pop up on the screen and they'll say, "Oh, really? He died?"

I'll say, "Who's he?"

And they'll explain. I almost always need an explanation for the recently-dead famous people.

But with Michael Jackson I needed no explanation. Michael Jackson was the first person of whom I've thought, "Oh man, I listened to him!"

Weird.