And what were you doing?

There are very few events happening in the world that I can remember exactly what I was doing when the event took place. June 25, 2009 is one of those days. I woke up before work and had read that Farrah Fawcett died. Sad as it was, it was expected, as she had been ill for some time. Nothing would prepare anyone for what would come later.
I went to work that Thursday not thinking that anything out of the ordinary was going to happen. Kevin had the evening off so we had planned to go to dinner. On the way we stopped at a convenience store for a pop. I stayed in the car flipping stations on the radio. It was a little after six pm Eastern time. All of a sudden, the announcer came on and broke the news that Michael Jackson had just died. My mouth dropped. I sat there with my mouth hanging open in shear disbelief. Kevin came out and I told him. He didn't believe me at first. I wouldn't have believed me either.
What is really odd, is that I am not a huge Michael Jackson fan. Never really have been. Having spent my teen years in the 80's, I grew up with MJ. I just preferred British Pop than American music. I liked some of his stuff, but couldn't list what song was on what album. After "Thriller" and "Bad", it all blends together. I was surprised that I was having as strong of a reaction that I did. It dawned on me later that I felt like I lost a part of my childhood.
I really started to dislike MJ when he outbid Paul McCartney for the Beatles catalog. Then came the really odd behavior and the molestation charges. We are all products of our environments. The lack of a childhood, I am sure was a big part of it. Suddenly, none of it mattered. Micheal Jackson was gone.
Regardless of how you feel about him personally, his contribution and musical talent can't be denied. I really listened to his music for the first time that night, and as the rain began to fall in Columbus, I began to cry.