by Linda Joyce

Created on: July 01, 2009   Last Updated: July 27, 2009

It's hard to imagine a world without Michael Jackson. It seems as though he'd been around forever. Who can ever forget him as a cute kid singing with his brothers at the start of his career? And then later in his most popular videos? He was bigger than life, and now the legendary "King of Pop" is gone, having passed away at age 50.

When the news of his death was aired, people all over the world were stunned and saddened. It was hard to believe. It was something that shouldn't have happened.

It's funny how you just expect certain celebrities to go on forever, not the flash-in-the-pan one-hit wonders, but the ones with real substance who remake themselves time and time again. And that's what Michael did his entire life.

Like him or not, you have to admit his talent was superb. You may have questioned what went on his personal life, but as a singer and dancer, he was an original. No one even came close to his star shine and popularity in his heyday.

However, he was a complicated character, and who can really say they knew what made him tick? How can the many plastic surgeries and skin bleaching be explained? What kind of person would put himself through all of that and for what reason. You have to wonder.

In the beginning of his career, Michael Jackson was definitely African-American. Later on, he morphed into someone completely different with the palest skin and the tiniest nose around. Sometimes it was difficult to tell if you were really looking at him or his sister LaToya. What made him obsess about his looks and skin color the way he did? How and when did all of that begin? It would be interesting to have all of that revealed, if there is anyone who knows the truth.

Look at the people he surrounded himself with, many of them celebrities, too. Lisa Presley, a former wife; Macaulay Culkin; music great Quincy Jones; Elizabeth Taylor; and Brooke Shields, to name a few. He must have had some good qualities, or he wouldn't have drawn stars of that magnitude to himself.

But what can we ever know as outsiders? All we know is that he is gone. Right now, his music is selling more than anyone else's. His name is on the news every day, whether it's about his will, the cause of his death, what will happen to his children and more. Evreyone is putting his or her two cents in, speculating about this and that. It's kind of creepy, when you think of it. Death should be quiet and dignified, not a three ring circus, although who knows? Maybe Michael would have liked all the hoopla.

But in a few weeks or months, for the most part all of this will die down, and life will go on for the living. Michael Jackson won't be forgotten, but he just won't be here anymore. Right now, our hearts go out to the children he left behind.

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