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Just a few hours ago, it was announced that Michael Jackson has passed away at age 50. Rumors are already flying, but as of this moment the "official" report states that Michael Jackson died from a cardiac arrest. All I can think of now is that his family must be devastated.

You can ask a hundred different people for their opinion of the pop star and you are certain to receive a hundred different answers with extremely different ideas and opinions of who Michael Jackson really was. One thing that everyone should agree on is that Michael Jackson was a human being with parents and siblings that must have cared for him very much.

I imagine that Michael was possibly very lonely. Fame can be a thrilling and fulfilling experience, but it can also be cruel. Try to imagine for just a moment what it must have been like to grow up in the public eye. Michael was just a young boy when he had his first taste of fame. He was an adorable little boy with a tremendous amount of talent and the whole world loved him.

I can't even begin to comprehend what it must have been like to be a young boy growing up with the entire world watching for any little mistake, any little indiscretion or slip-up. Once a person becomes famous their life is no longer their own, at least in the public's opinion. Michael never knew a "normal" life of just being an average guy with the freedom to come and go as he pleased or to make mistakes and learn from them in the usual fashion.

When someone becomes famous, especially when they happen to be considered a role model or even a teen idol, suddenly the entire planet expects them to be completely perfect and entirely without fault. The pressure must surely be overwhelming.

Michael went from being a talented little boy to being a teen idol in a very short period of time. The crowds that once cheered on the cute kid suddenly became screaming teens and fainting women all wanting to be close enough to touch the talented young star. Thousands of young men all over the world wanted to be just like Michael.

I was only eight years old in 1982 when "Thriller" rampaged off the charts. Nearly all of the children in my elementary school wore parachute pants, carried a Michael Jackson lunch box, and dreamed of getting to go to the concert soon to come to our local stage. I'll admit that I was never much of a Michael fan, but at eight years old, I was still a bit young to understand what all the fuss was about. If it didn't involve animated cartoons or Jim Henson's

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