the mind of a moonstruck mommy

Going to Michael Jackson’s memorial was an amazing experience, I know if I don’t write anything down I’ll forget, so you can all read about my time too! They told us not to bring cameras, so I didn’t, but I did have my cell phone to take a couple pictures with. I had entered with both my email address and my husbands, and he actually won! So, Monday I sent him to Dodgers Stadium to get our tickets and wristbands.

Our tickets and my wristband to Michael Jackson's memorial

When he got back he was practically begging me to sell the tickets… But I was not giving up this opportunity. And I am SO glad I didn’t let him talk me into it. Everyone did a great job making it a classy memorial and not some spectacle.

I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to get ready. I decided to wear funeral attire with a twist. Black pants, blue shirt, and a black sweater covered in sequins… I thought it was appropriate.

We drove to LA, my husband going the wrong way more then once. I asked him before we left if he needed directions but, of course, he thought he didn’t. $20 bucks to park and a 5 minute walk later we were at the Staples Center!

They were showing lots of different pictures of Michael on all the screens at the Staples Center.

Our seats were alright. We could see the stage straight on, but we were on the opposite side of the arena. We had one of the Michael Jackson’s impersonators sitting behind us, and Angat wanted me to take a picture with him, but people dressed up when it isn’t Halloween freaks me out. (I actually ran from Bugs Bunny at Magic Mountain when I was about 15!)

Then, the ushers came and told us we were going to move somewhere else to be seat fillers. When we first got up to the front we were only about 4 rows from the floor, but after the next move I was 11 rows back. I couldn’t have been 75 feet from the stage and where they put the casket, so I was more then pleased with my seats. After we had to move once Angat got frustrated and decided to go sit back in our original seats, so I had to sit by myself with all the (I think) political people. I think they must have been in government because they were all stuffy, white, and holier then thou. They also took the longest to stand and applaud. No one in my section seemed like they had any connection with Michael, which kind of bothered me honestly.

OH, and WHY was everyone cheering when Kobe walked in??? Seriously!! I mean, I know we were in the Staples Center, but still, it’s a funeral!

I did, however, absolutely love the program they put together. It had some great pictures of Michael and some really nice messages from his family and friends. It was hard to get most of it to scan, but I managed to get some pictures.

Front of the program

Back of the program

A page from inside the program

One of the things I found most surprising about the day was the few minutes right before the memorial actually started. The entire Staples Center was silent. It was almost creepy how quiet it was in there. Also, most people didn’t know his body was going to be there. My mom had called and told me she had heard it on the news, so I wasn’t as surprised, but it was a very emotional moment for the entire place.

Michael Jackson's Casket

I thought most of the singers and presenters did a good job. I know how hard it can be to do something like that.  I sang The Wind Beneath My Wings for my 4th grade Teacher’s memorial and was bawling the entire time. ((If you want to see any of the preformances, click on the name and it will bring you to the YouTube page.))  Mariah didn’t sound great, but I think it was because she was emotional.  Jennifer Hudson sounded AMAZING live, although when I watched on TV it wasn’t as moving.  Also, she is the most gorgeous pregnant lady I’ve ever seen! She had such a perfect belly!

Brooke Shields looked and spoke beautifully. I had no idea her and Michael were so close! But hubbs and I agreed Magic is crazy if he thinks eating KFC with Michael was the best moment of his life.  The man was married, had 3 kids, won 5 championships, an Olympic Gold Medal, and he is in the Hall of Fame!  And can someone tell me why Kobe was even there.  He was the worst presenter… he didn’t bother memorizing his 5 lines and couldn’t manage to read it off the teleprompter.  I wanted to tell him to go shoot free throws somewhere and leave Michael alone!… but I controlled myself.  I was also a little bummed that Usher didn’t sing an upbeat Michael song and show us some moves. I get why he didn’t, they wanted it to be all somber and sad, but I think Michael would have liked if Usher moonwalked!

Al Sharpton was LOUD but I’ll admit, moving.  When he told Michael’s children “Wasn’t nothing strange about your Daddy, it was strange what your Daddy had to deal with.” I thought the Staples Center was going to explode.

And the little boy from Britain’s Got Talent, Shaheen Jafargholi, was beyond amazing. He gave me the chills more then once.  And he was the only one that didn’t have the teleprompter going… well him and Stevie Wonder. (Bad Joke, I know)

Jermaine made me cry when he sang Smile and I love that the brothers were all wearing a glove.  I thought John Mayer did a nice job, but I wish he would have sang… or anyone would have, for that matter. Snore.

John Mayer at Michael Jackson's Memorial

I enjoyed what Queen Latifah had to say and the poem she read by Maya Angelou. You can read it here.  And I especially loved hearing the stories from Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy about young Michael.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee really got the crowd pumped with the whole “innocent until proven otherwise” thing, but I was more moved by the award they are trying to give Michael. American Legend…. quite a title!

Pastor Lucious Smith and Lionel Richie were… um… nice.  The Kings and, of course, the Jacksons made me cry. At the end they showed us something Michael had been working on for the upcoming tour and then sang We are the World and Heal the World.

Singing We Are the World

But the real tearjerker was when Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris, spoke.

The worst part is that you know she wanted to speak because she knows all the drama that surrounds her dad and her family.  My heart breaks for her too, because it really sucks to lose your dad at a young age.

I wasn’t good at spotting the stars in the crowd. Of course, I knew where the family was and a lot of the speakers, but besides that I didn’t bother.  However, some celebs walked right by me up the aisle!  I was able to see, Jaleel White (Steve Urkel), Terry Crews, and Mary J Blige… who PS has the most amazing ass I’ve seen, except in the mirror! I had to control myself from not touching, so it was a good thing hubbs had moved back to the other seats!

We left as soon as it was over, but as we were leaving there were planes writing MJ in the sky, so I got to cry one last time. (LOL I swear, I’m not some HUGE Michael fan, I cry about everything.)

Overall, it was a really nice memorial and I’m sure Michael was pleased, but I’ll bet he wished we would have left better instructions. I think he wanted more of a celebration and we were all very serious and sad. Brooke even said herself, he would have wanted us to smile.

After the memorial was over, I actually got to do a radio interview with Mark Parton from Australia. (@markparton on Twitter) It was really cool, but I’m sure glad I didn’t have to hear what I sounded like!

And, before the memorial, I got to do a little interview with James Bradshaw from The Globe and Mail. (@jembradshaw on Twitter) You can read the article that I’m included in here.

Lastly, I decided that since I’ve been lagging on my 101 in 1001 List the memorial will count as my concert. It pretty much was one anyway!

Moonstruck Mommy