I must've been born in the wrong decade. I grew up watching the child molestation trials on TV. I asked my dad who Michael Jackson was. He said he was a excellent singer, but he had done some bad things to kids. Michael never entered my mind again until early 2009. My mum was a fan of MJ's music. One day when we were unpacking stuff in our rental (my parents had separated and were to get divorced soon) and I came across one of her cassette tapes. It was a Bad-era MJ hits or something like that, with songs from both Thriller and Bad. Luckily, mums CD player also played cassettes. I put it in and pressed play. "Bad" started playing. I listened through the whole tape, laughing at my mums attempt to dance to Billie Jean. I lay in bed that night thinking about the lyrics of Man In The Mirror. Surely the Michael Jackson that my father had told me about years ago was not the same Michael Jackson that sung this song, that cared so much about the world and the people in it. The next week, I was back with my dad. I found a collection of vinyl records. The one on top was Thriller. I couldn't believe it. Was it a coincidence? No, i told myself. Our stereo had a record player on it. I asked dad if we could listen to it. He said yes. I let him set it up, and then Wanna Be Startin Somethin started rolling out it's epic bass line and beat. I was hooked from that day onwards. It sounds crazy but it was like Michael was who I was waiting for. Or maybe Michael was waiting for me. I was happy. Until June 25th. I was shocked more than upset when I heard the news. It was like I had made a new friend, and we became close, and then they moved away suddenly, without saying goodbye. How does one react to that kind of feeling? Days later I stayed up all night to watch the memorial service as it was aired in America. There were numerous programs on beforehand, mostly about all the "scandalous" things that Michael supposedly had done. The trial, the accusations, the hyperbaric chamber, Bubbles, Elephant Man bones, and of course, the "dangling" of his youngest son. But there was something else on as well. I don't remember what it was, but it was hoaxy, because in the morning I found a piece of paper that I had wrote on during the night. It said: Three Possibilities: 1 it's a giant hoax, 2 he faked his death, or 3 he really died. I don't what I was thinking that night, or what I watched, but it obviously pointed me in the right direction. Towards the end of 2010, I found that piece of paper again, and it reminded me of something my brother said. While watching the replay of the memorial, my older brother (who dislikes MJ) said, "Why are his kids chewing gum? They're at their fathers memorial and they chew gum?" At that point I knew something was up. YouTube was my first port of call. I searched and found the series by Pianogames. I particularly enjoyed his videos. They gave me strength to believe in Michael, and to believe that he was alive and well. I researched for about 6 months until I stumbled across this wonderful website, full of people who shared the same common belief: Michael lives. One of the first posts I read was by TS. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I knew answers would be lurking around her somewhere. I read a bit, and was presently surprised when I found that people had beLIEved since 2009. I had found a virtual home, and I was grateful for it. So here I am now, 6 months after joining, although it feels like it's been about two years. So much to learn, read and explore. I was/am happy here. And now that you guys have started this topic, I've realised something. It was something more powerful than chance or luck that guided me to find that cassette tape. That tape introduced me to the magical world of Michael Jackson. And even though I've looked for it, I never found it again suspicious//