Never Can Say Goodbye

I don't have much to contribute to the tribute of Michael Jackson, even though I recognize the significance he had on the world. Anything I would add be would redundant since the blog waves and the rest of the Internet are buzzing about trying to compete for viewing time. I will, however, relate this one story, reprinted from an earlier post after Michael beat his last child molestation rap:

Back in the late 1980s and about three blocks from where I grew up, some sick bastard (who shall forever remain nameless as far as I'm concerned) armed with an AK-47 walked onto the campus of Grover Cleveland Elementary School and massacred a bunch of school children. Their bodies fell right in front of where I used to attend Mr. Padovan's sixth grade class. The killer then turned the weapon on himself, blowing his own worthless life away as well. Naturally,this was the lead story of the national news that night. The whole world had its eyes on Cleveland School, its victims and its survivors. The media circus had hit Stockton with a vengeance as everyone mourned the death of these children and tried to figure out how this could have happened. Michael Jackson learned of what occurred in Stockton and, at that time, he was the self-proclaimed champion of children everywhere. So he came to Cleveland School one afternoon not long after the massacre to offer his support and comfort a bunch of traumatized kids. That didn't stop all the major news networks from returning once they knew the King of Pop was in town. However, Michael didn't allow any reporters to follow him inside the auditorium (what we used to call the "multi-purpose room") where the children gathered to meet Michael, so only they and the faculty knew what was said. 

I couldn't help but wonder if those stressed out kids freaked out all over again once they heard the helicopters circling overhead just as they had before and the crowds began to scream for Michael upon his arrival.Was Michael up to no good even back then? Certainly not at that moment. This gesture wasn't just a publicity stunt either. I believed he actually wanted to do some good. I wonder what those kids, now all grown up, are saying today. After all, they lost their own innocence in an entirely different way-at the hands of a gun-toting maniac.

But that day, Michael managed to do something very good and totally unselfish, yes, for the children.