Remembering Michael Jackson: Fans Hold Vigil at Musician's Childhood Home

Remembering Michael Jackson: Fans Hold Vigil at Musician's Childhood Home by Bruna Nessif

Aug. 29, 2012

In honor of what would have been Michael Jackson's 54th birthday, numerous fans and the Jackson family held a vigil outside his childhood home in Gary, Ind.

Daughter Paris Jackson tweeted a photo of the crowd and wrote, "you guys are amazing!!!"

Paris Jackson remembers her father on his special day

According to ABC News, fans were dancing outside to Jackson's music until Paris and her brother Prince arrived, and the crowd began forming around them to get their M.J. memorabilia autographed.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also showed up at the tribute, stopping in the crowd before the vigil to pose for a photo with a Michael Jackson impersonator.

Before the vigil, Paris and Prince were given blue "Team Gary" T-shirts by Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson as they posed for pictures at a casino overlooking Lake Michigan.

"We just want you to know how much he meant to us and the city of Gary," she told them

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

WOW!

Hello Family: I’ve been meaning to post this story for a while. This year for Michael Jackson’s birthday, I celebrated in front of 2300 Jackson Street, Gary, Indiana. The birth place of our King of Hearts Michael J Jackson. Two friends and myself flew to Chicago, rented a car and drove to our Hotel in Merriville, Indiana which is about t 10-15 minutes from Gary. The morning of Michael’s birthday the three of us looked at each other in disbelief -we were actually in Gary Indiana for Michael’s birthday !!! I had to excuse myself because it was an overwhelming experience. I felt honored and blessed. The three of us with others, talked about going on this sojourn for so long and now here we were. Gary Indiana is unfortunately not the most “happening”city . The City probably hasn’t changed much since the Jackson family moved away. However, there is a "new" casino and hotel named the Majestic –which many of the MJ related events took place. Also the Jackson family stayed there as well. If I ever go there again, I’ll probably stay there, but I liked Merriville as well.
We arrived at Michael's house 12:30 pm cause we wanted to beat the crowd. I can't speak for the other ladies, but as I approached, 2300 Jackson street, I began to get anxious, nervous and had butterflies in my stomach. The very first time I went to Forest Lawn - I had the exact reaction. As many of you know Mrs. Jackson and Michael’s lovely children had planned this event to honor their son, and father. There were many fans from around the world there, we even ran into fan-mily from California and New York that we knew. The event was supposed to start at 2:00 pm but really didn’t get going until 7 pm that evening. When we got to the house there were about 20 people milling about, and I’m like this is it? Really? But as the 90 degree sun wore on and the hours passed many fans started coming down the street and joining in the celebration. Once the DJ put Michael's music on, everyone loosened up and started to mingle and dance and get acquainted. There was a very emotional moment as well -the sun was setting and the sky was a dark blue "I'll Be There" started to play, as Michael sang "just call my name and I'll be there" we started yelling Michael's name, many hugged and had tears in their eyes.

During the day we talked to many that remembered the Jacksons. One guy told us when he was young, he and his friends would ride up and down the street, and when they came to the Jackson house they would park their bikes and start to dance ‘cause there was always music coming from within. The man said little did anyone know then, that this family would become internationally known. Allot of fans brought beautiful pictures and flowers and all kinds of mementoes to place outside of Michael’s house. The house is a small white framed house with a fence around it, very unassuming. When I looked up at the street sign and read 2300 Jackson street, it was another “ I can’t believe it” moment. In the front yard, there’s a large stone monument dedicated to Michael (from Spike Lee) The front door had a very large framed picture of Michael in his black hat, sequined jacket and silver glove dancing. The back of the house had the famous picture of Michael and the lion cub. On the side and the back of the house were large cement boards where we could write our message of love and birthday wishes to Michael. I wrote a book (hee hee).
As the day progressed we had a great surprise. Paris came out of the house to greet us. Imagine that. Paris is a beautiful young woman and pictures don’t do her justice. We were allowed to give her gifts via her bodyguard. My two other travelling companions and I bought a card and signed it with personal messages to Michael . Imagine our joy when we noticed that Paris had our card in her hands reading our notes. I’m going to fast forward cause this could take forever to write everything down.
But as the evening set in, all three of Michael’s children came outside to sign our posters and to take pictures. The paparazzi went ballistic when the children came outside, one photog literally flung himself on the ground just to get shot of Paris; I could only think of what Michael endured all of this life. Later in the evening Rev. Jesse Jackson came to the stage and made a speech about Michael, there was a MJ impersonator who danced a bit, and then LaToya arrived to speak about Michael. Her speech was lovely and heartfelt. After that we had a candelight vigil and sang “Man in the Mirror" (oh gosh -just remembering brought tears to my eyes, wow), It was beautiful;. All in all, even though it was a very very long day, it was a wonderful wonderful experience I will cherish forever.

But you know how we are- so after the event, it was time to really get the birthday party going. We all headed to the Majestic Hotel and partied to Michael all night.
I will never forget this trip to Michael’s house –if it wasn’t for the many pictures I have (mostly on Facebook) I would never have believed this happened. (Thank you Lord, Thank you Michael)
Here’s some more pics from the event. About the 10 or 11 picture there I am at the Candlelight vigil- I have on the white Be Like Mike T-shirt. The woman next to me is my good fan-mily friend.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Just call my name and I'll be There.... WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL!