It's funny how the sad things can really bring people closer together. We're humans, we're social creatures, and we like knowing that others are feeling what we're feeling. It's an affirmation of our humanity, as individuals and as a society. It's an affirmation that we can hear each other, that we're not as separate as we sometimes feel. This itself is a little beautiful miracle.
I didn't think I'd watch the Michael Jackson memorial. But my mom had it on while watching my little Sabrina. So I caught some of it while I nursed Sabrina. We enjoyed the music and I loved remembering where I was in life when the songs came out (third grade...middle school...high school).
Then Paris came on, and they adjusted the microphone for her, and Janet murmured in this very motherly way, "Speak up, sweetheart, speak up." And I noticed the way Janet enveloped her in her arms, and held her up. To me, that was such a beautiful mothering moment. That's the kind of mothering I'm so looking forward to-- being there for my daughters when they're doing something hard. Just being there, solid as a rock, calm and strong for them, while they do what they need to do.
I am now so glad I saw it. I'm so glad I didn't miss this moment. That I can look back and know that I participated in something with many others.
And I think the BBC's Matthew Price captured it beautifully: "Inside a little girl spoke of her love for her father, and for a brief moment even those who are not particularly fond of Michael Jackson, even those who are fed up with the wall-to-wall news coverage, couldn't help but feel heartbroken."
Heartbroken indeed, but together. Just for a moment.