Christina Juleson Photography

It was a warm day in Brownsville, Texas when my mom piled me, my sister (Lisa) and my brother (JR) into her old beat up car to cross the border into Matamoros Mexico to go shopping for a couple of gowns for my sister and I to wear to our cousin Nancy's quinceanera . As we were walking down the rugged market place I spotted a poster of Michael Jackson in the window of one of the shops and pleaded and beg our mother to just allow me a moment to go inside and check out the place. The year was 1983, Michael Jackson's Billie Jean song was already being circulated on MTV and for the first time I adopted my first idol.

I entered the music store and picked up the record that would start the beginning of my love for music. My mother must have seen it written all over my face, because the next thing I know I'm walking out of the store with my first record. I will never forget the countless times I played that album or the number of dance routines my sister and our neighbor Alex put on for his grandparents and other neighborhood kids.

Over the years I've listened to the media and scandal surrounding Michael Jackson. Despite it all, it never tainted the love and appreciation I've had for the music he made, especially his earlier work. This is all he's ever known, living his life in front of the camera for everyone to see and make their own judgements. How can anyone ever begin to understand a small percentage of what he went thru in the course of his life? Today I show my appreciation and give thanks for the memories that were made in my life that surrounded his music or were inspired by his music. From that warm day in 83, to the day of my wedding when I shared a dance with my hubbie at the reception. What a life, what a legacy...it makes me wonder what kind of legacy will I leave behind.

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