The Passing of Michael Jackson

Fifty can be a lot when looked upon as just a number. However, fifty years of a life that ended just doesn't seem long enough. On June 25, 2009, Michael Joseph Jackson collapsed in the mansion that he rented in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. The doctor that traveled with him, Conrad Murray, found him with a faint pulse and tried performing CPR. Then, when Michael would not respond to the doctor's efforts, 911 was called, and it would become the phone call that would be heard around the world for weeks to come.

Three minutes after 911 was called, the Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics arrived at Michael's home at 2:22 p.m. (EST). The pop icon was not breathing and the paramedics tirelessly tried to revive him on the scene and en route to the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center.

The public was largely unaware of these events until major news media outlets confirmed that Michael Jackson had a heart attack a short time after the pop icon arrived at the hospital. Those who grew up with Michael's music were worried but nobody could have imagined that their hero, the man who weathered all the storms that life could have offered and became infamous for his white glove, wouldn't rise again to sing another song. About an hour after news first hit the airwaves that the King of Pop had a heart attack, the news that everyone was afraid of came.

About an hour after arriving at the hospital at 3:26 pm (EST), Michael Jackson was pronounced dead. People searched tirelessly on their work and home computers, trying to find out if this was just another hoax, as many celebrities experience on a regular basis regarding their untimely deaths. But this was no hoax and most sites breaking the story of Michael's untimely death crashed at least once due to the immense traffic. Michael, who had millions of music fans around the world during his life, had just as many if not more individuals who wanted to know whether the unfathamoble was true.

Michael Jackson fanatics and those who had never really been big fans of music all agreed upon one thing- Fifty was too young to die. No matter what happened in his life and what controversy always surrounded it, Michael Jackson was an individual who had a lot more life to give to the world, to his fans and especially to his children.

The King of Pop moved many to not only become free in their performance but to also be themselves. Not only did Michael sell millions of records, but he had the gift of being able to step to the tune of his own drummer without much thought to how it would be perceived by others. While seemingly lonely at times, he lived life the only way he knew how, and regardless of the opinion of the world, many will always wonder what he had left to give and what he could have taught the world that rushes to judgment far too often.