Today is my sister Anne's birthday. She's the first person I called when I heard the news about Michael Jackson's passing.  She and I are 13 months apart and between the typical sisterly bickering, we were close growing up. We spent a lot of time singing and dancing around the house when we were younger. Anne was gifted with a strong singing voice and typically did the harmonizing to cover my mediocre vocals. She was also the consummate cheerleader and when we danced, it wouldn't be unusual for her to turn one of her moves into some rah rah, stiff-armed jump with a really loud landing that would shake the light fixtures.  I focused more on the MJ spins (which I never quite got) because you see, I never made the cheerleading squad. I tried out in 6th, 7th and 8th grades and never got the nod from the judges that I was good enough to support the St. Joe's Knights from the gym floor. I don't think they really understood me. I'm a bit shy and prefer to keep my enthusiasm inside. Looking back, I suppose the judges made the right decision. Introverts make lousy cheerleaders. My sister, on the other hand, wears her emotions on her sleeve so she always made the squad.  Consequently, I supported her on her efforts to be the best cheerleader ever and she supported and laughed at me while I tried to master MJ's 360 degree spin. 

I only found out recently that my whole childhood obsession with Michael and his brothers disturbed my sister. She phoned my parents after we talked about his death and told them she could never understand why all the other girls had a crush on Donny Osmond and I was fixated on a negro (I had to clean that word up from the one she chose). This better explains my Christmas present from her in 1974. 

Since we're from a big family, we picked names for gifts and put a $10 limit on them. It was a Secret Santa deal so in order to get your message out, you had to tell everyone, including our parents, what you wanted for Christmas.  I made it perfectly clear to every family member I wanted a Jackson 5 album. I was young so there wasn't shame in my choice but pure enthusiasm at the thought of throwing their music on the turntable Christmas day. 

To make it easier on our parents, we picked one Saturday to do our shopping.  They dropped all of us kids off at the mall and we picked partners to shop with.  Anne paired up with our oldest brother Frank. Off they went to the record store in search of my present. On Christmas morning when I saw the present from my Secret Santa under the tree, I could tell by the wrapping I was getting an album. I couldn't wait to open it! I just knew I'd have the headphones on within hours singing and dancing to the Jackson 5. As I tore open the wrapping paper, I realized something had gone terribly wrong. Instead of staring at those 5 afros, I found myself looking at some long-hairs on this crazy, blurry album cover.  It was a record from a band called "Deep Purple".  If I was allowed to swear, I would've asked "what the hell is this"? But, I just sat there with my mouth open while my sister explained that Frank told her I didn't really WANT the Jackson 5 album but what I REALLY wanted was the "Deep Purple Machine Head" album that included the song "Smoke on the Water".  So, instead of me dancing and singing around the house to my African American friends, I had to watch my brother Frank pull out his electric guitar and play along to the Deep Purple songs I had never heard of nor really liked. And it wasn't like I could dance along because none of those songs even had a beat. 

So, since I didn't fly to LA for the memorial service, I'm going to use some of my unemployment check to buy 2 copies of the "Michael Jackson Memorial Tribute CD and DVD set".  I can't wait to see Anne and Frank's faces when they open up their Christmas presents this year. 

Today's EiPod: "Smoke on the Water", Deep Purple