Michael's Tribute

Yesterday was one of the saddest days. I know this blog is about being single, of relationships, of sex or the lack of, man-rants etc. etc. But tonight, I'd like to give my two cents worth in tribute to two particular men. They are men I have never touched, or seen in real life or ever had the pleasure of having a (spoken) conversation with...but they are men I can safely say I Loved.

I have told very few people this but when I was young, I used to have an imaginary friend (it eventually evolved into an imaginary cult) (I was a lonely child). But it all stemmed from my imaginary friend. I named this friend after someone I wanted to emulate someday. Someone who, at that point, was the most famous person on earth. I named my imaginary friend Michael.

Michael was my buddy. I used to talk to imaginary Michael everyday. He was there alongside me when I fought with my brother (who would slap me for no reason and call me Small Fart). I discussed with him all the reasons I didn't like my parents when they scolded me. I whispered my dreams to him. He travelled with me to imagined worlds where I lived in an oasis andate only junk food. Michael helped me recruit members into our cult (he was the leader...I was God) (Yes, really. Like I said, I was a strange, over-imaginative child) so we could build a playground. In Michael were my dreams, fears, confusions and happiness all rolled into one.

Then there was the real Michael. The superstar. That Michael taught me to see the world in a way nobody else around me wanted to. He gave me music I could escape into. Through him I learnt to always see the good in people. To believe in them. He taught me that the world was fragile and I needed to be strong enough to want to hold it together. He taught me to find the one thing that made me happiest, to do it and do it well. Most importantly, he taught me to dream.

I want to thank both Michaels. Real and imaginary for giving me that. For giving me the power to believe that creativity was a starting point in healing the world. I 'd like to thank them for making my childhood full of hope, imagination and fun. They inspired me. But mostly, I want to thank them both for being such dear friends.

They are both gone now...One slipped away from my imagination when I wasn't looking and the other slipped away from our world yesterday.
But I like to think they are not so far away. They are not so lost just like our childhoods are not so lost to us. They live on as giants in our hearts.