It's hard to look at Michael Jackson as one person. Looking back on his life, with its bizarre twists and turns, leaves you with multiple viewpoints on his persona. There's his musical genius, megastar, and giving philanthropist side. There's the wildly eccentric and otherworldly antics, which give him yet another strange face. His legal issues and persistent cosmetic changes give him literal and figurative masks, making it even harder to recognize him. Yet with all his various sides and lives, his legacy is possibly one of the biggest our generation will ever see.
I was driving up Highway 1 to San Francisco on July 1 on a family trip, when we decided to take a detour and stop at Neverland Ranch. I was surprised by how many news vans were lined along the small dirt road leading to the main gate of the ranch. The news of MJ's death was still somewhat fresh — they were talking about possible locations of memorial services, both public and private, on the radio as we drove that day. When we heard that Neverland Ranch was on the list of potential sites, we quickly turned off Highway 1 and headed to Los Olivos (view map).
The gates were swamped with cameramen, news reporters, and media types, buzzing all over the main driveway. The gates remained closed to the public, only to be opened when a utility vehicle or police car came to the entrance. A dusty pickup truck passed us by and was quickly ushered into the estate. In the back of the truck were two dogs, who looked back at the crowd in silence. Actually, other than the loud reporters, it was very quiet and somber. Fans had already begun camping out at the site. Teens in red jackets and MJ t-shirts, black hats, and white gloves, wept softly and hugged each other. A family of three huddled around flowers that were left at the side of the gate. I saw another young girl being interviewed by some news network, and watched her start crying as she told the reporter and the world what Michael Jackson meant to her.
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