"Do You Believe In Fairies?"

"All children, except one, grow up".



Everyone knows who Peter Pan is. He's the magical boy who never grows up, never ages, believes in fairies and can't understand why anyone wouldn't. Peter Pan is a part of everyone's childhood. We all remember him flying around with his friends, Wendy, John, and Michael and taking them to his fantasy land where they'd also be children forever. In the end, the three children make the "natural" choice to go back and live their lives and grow up as children are supposed to do. Of course, we all know that EVERYONE ages...that's just a part of it...but, do we HAVE to grow up?? Do we have to let go of our childhood dreams? Do we have to give up on impish fun and trade it in for the stresses of adulthood?

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies."
Peter Pan


Michael Jackson didn't think so. He lived his life in such a way as to draw media scrutiny from the grown ups who couldn't "get it". Were these media bloodsuckers so "grown up" that they were afraid to release their inner child? Or had they forgotten HOW to be child-like, making them so jealous of Michael's innocence that they had to terrorize him at every turn? Whatever it was, Michael Jackson was the target of so much hate and so many jokes in his all-too-brief life. But it was because he wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid to admit that he was afraid. He wasn't afraid to cry when he hurt. He wasn't afraid to have a good time doing things that children do. He, like Peter Pan, created his own "Neverland" where he could make all his childhood dreams come true. Go to YouTube and watch his private home movies. Watch as he has water gun and water balloon fights and hunts Easter eggs with the children. Listen as he laughs as he's being pushed into the pool repeatedly or having raw eggs cracked on his head. Watch him climb trees and have pie fights after "short film" shoots. Then, look into his eyes and see the happiness and satisfaction written all over his face. How many adults can say that they have that much joy in their hearts? I know I can't!

"Do you know," Peter asked, "why swallows build in the eaves of houses? It is to listen to the stories."


Yet, the media took this joy and viewed it under a microscope, inventing ideas that weren't there and twisting his fantasies in such a way that he eventually never returned to live at the Neverland he loved. Why must we adults do this? Why do we allow ourselves to grow up too fast and then expect our kids to do the same? How many times have I stopped my daughter from playing because it's "too loud" or "too messy" or because she's "too big for that"? How many times have I watched her play alone because I was "too busy" or "too old" to play with her? I could have (and will) take a lesson from Michael. You're NEVER too old toplay and laugh.

Michael Jackson, from what I can tell, took his pleasure from helping others. This is evident by the THOUSANDS of sick, orphaned, and underprivileged children who entered Neverland during the time he was there. It's evident by the more than $300 million he gave to various charities. It's also proven by the story of the little four year old boy for whom Michael found a liver and paid for a transplant. Believe the rumors if you will, but very few celebrities of Michael's status can say that they've given not only money, but time. His caring contributions can't be denied, not even by the most vicious haters.

"Every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."


Did he have his faults? Sure. We all do. Did he do things that might have made him seem "eccentric" or "peculiar"? Certainly. But, I will never be able to view him as a criminal, because I believe in my heart that everything he did was with the naivety of a child. He originally had, and eventually lost, a great trust in people, just like children do. The media forced him to "grow up" and realize that all people were not good and that everyone wasn't out to love him.

"To die will be an awfully big adventure."
Peter Pan

Michael Jackson, the eternal child, began his "big adventure" on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50. With his departure, we've lost not only one of the greatest talents the music business has ever known, but we've lost a huge part of our own childhoods (if you're old enough, anyway). With him, he also took the voice of the children. I've been crying real tears for days, not so much for Michael, as I'd never met him, but for the world, who will never again see that kind of child-like innocence that he possessed. As someone who lost her own "voice" in 1995, with the death of my father, my heart goes out, not only to Michael's own children, but to all the children he could have helped, if he'd only been allowed more time.

"Second to the right, and straight on till morning."
That, Peter had told Wendy, was the way to the Neverland