Will You Be There?

To say that my opportunity to attend Michael Jackson's memorial service was a historic, once-in-a-lifetime, amazing opportunity brimming with good fortune, is to underestimate the magnitude of the experience.

In 1988, my parents bought tickets to see Michael on the Bad world tour. In the weeks and months leading to this event; my cousin Katie and I would discuss, at length, our plans to communicate via walkie talkie en route to the Tacoma Dome. Everyone was excited...I was beside myself. Michael was my hero. Bad was THE album. It was something of a dream come true...

Sadly, Michael cancelled the show due to illness. He would never return to my area of the world again...

My faith in the great Michael Jackson was undeterred by this event. Through thick and thin, cool and uncool...I still carried with me a love for his music and a great compassion for the man. While I can't claim to have not taken part in the various jokes, speculations and sensationalism that followed Michael in his later years; I can say that deep in my heart I have carried him with me through all my years on this earth. His influence on my life is undeniable. Sadly, this is something I have come to learn only in the few weeks since his passing.

I was at the dry cleaners dropping of pants to be hemmed when Megan (my lovely girlfriend) sent me the text that Michael had died. I had seen reports that he had been hospitalized, but, I could not believe that he would ever die. So, I checked Twitter, I checked Google News....when the reports were confirmed, when my friends started calling, offering condolences...I had to come to terms with his death. It was strange, people die all the time, celebrities come and go. But, losing Michael had a deep impact on me, it was as if my childhood had been taken away.

Through the next week, Megan and I watched hours and hours of concert footage and YouTube videos. We searched the news, we listened to his music. When it was rumored that his memorial and burial was to be held at Neverland, my Mom and I made plans to fly down, carpool, whatever it took to be there. I talked about it all the time at work (which happens to be for a regional airline..more on that later). I felt a very strong need to be present, to say goodbye and more important, say thank you to Michael. As the plans changed and the story unfolded, my feelings never changed, but, I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn't be able to say goodbye in person...Especially when it was announced that a lottery would be held for the public memorial at the Staples center.

On Saturday afternoon, I read the news of the 8,750 tickets being given away to the Staples center memorial via lottery. I immediately entered my name, but never expected to have my name drawn. Later that evening, a good friend and co worker, Mindy, sent me a text message. She had entered to win the tickets as well, she wanted to increase my chances of going to the service. I thanked her and felt that it was very sweet but, once again, I didn't expect that anything would happen.

On Sunday morning I woke up with the word to Man In The Mirror echoing in my head. My parents had asked me to attend church with them, I agreed and thought it a good opportunity to, perhaps, learn something. During the service, a thought occurred to me. My friend Jason and I had been talking over the past year about the Law of Attraction and the power of positive thinking. At some point, as the pastor spoke, I decided to test this theory in a very simple way. I decided to expect to win tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial. What seemed like a simple, almost trivial favor to ask of the universe soon became a life lesson that I won't soon forget.

At 11:30pm on Sunday night, I had nearly forgotten about my request. Though, I still felt its urgency I had accepted the fact that it wouldn't come to fruition. When I checked my email and saw that I hadn't won the Staples Center lottery, I felt at peace and was ready to go to bed and face the next day. It was then that Mindy and I exchanged the following text messages:

Mindy: "did u get mj mem tickets?"

Bobby: "Nope. :( I heard that 1.5 million people applied..."

M: "i did. can i call u?"

Words fail to describe the shock I felt when I read that final message. In my mind, there was no way it could be real.

A quick word about Mindy: She is a great friend and one of the few honest people in this world. She also goes to bed pretty damn early. For her to be up at 11:30 on a Sunday night is, to put it mildly, unexpected. For her to check her email at that hour? Something of a miracle.

The story continues....

Break Of Dawn

5:45am, Monday morning:

The scream of genero-rock coming from my alarm clock radio is abruptly ended by the force of my hand applied to the snooze button. We are awake. We have been awake, on and off, for most of the night. As quickly as possible, Megan and I come to. We prepare for the coming adventure. Basic necessities of living are met (brush teeth, shower..), animals are taken care of, bags are packed and employers are called...

A Quick Note: It's at this point that I need to acknowledge Megan's boss, Tracy and my manager Pam, who both gave us the vacation time on short notice that allowed us to take part in this amazing opportunity. For that, we are extremely thankful.

Back to the story. With all our affairs settled, we head to Portland International Airport where we have exactly one chance of making it to Los Angeles using the stand-by, non revenue flight privilages provided to me by my employer. We are listed on a flight to Los Angeles with a stop in Redmond, OR. The Portland to Redmond flight is not a problem. From Redmond to Los Angeles, there are two open seats with ten people standing by. To say our chances are slim, is a bit of an understatement.

10:00am, still Monday morning:

We arrive in Redmond, OR. As the plane is being empited, I over hear a ground service agent talking to our flight attendent:

"How many people do you have standing by for the Los Angeles flight?"

"Ten, I think"

"Well, let them off, we'll take them into the boarding area. There aren't any seats available for that LA f LA flight. There's no way they're getting on."

At this point, I begin to feel a bit nervous. But, I quickly remember that this whole experience has been based on the power of positivity. So, I remind myself that if we don't make it to Los Angeles, it's not the end of the world. At least we had an adventure. At the same time, I imagine Megan and I boarding the plane headed for LAX.

Thirty minutes pass. The small boarding area at the Redmond airport is a flurry of tension and confusion. A party of eight that are standing by for the Los Angeles flight crowd around the gate agent. The patience of paying passengers is tested as the details for this flight are sorted out. All the while, Megan and I stand back and wait. Our hearts are pounding. Our nerves are shot. But, still, we hold hands and wait.

At 10:30am, as nearly all the passengers have been boarded for this flight, the gate agent announces that there are two seats open. She looks to Megan and I and asks if we are with the party of eight that is anxiously pacing the boarding area. We say no.

"Are you my party of two?"

We sure are. We are given the last two seats on the flight. We are on our way to pay tribute to Michael Jackson. We are about to take part in one of the biggest media events in history...

Speed Demon

Around 2:00pm, we left the rental car lot on our way to Dodger Stadium to exchange the Ticketmaster voucher for a pair of tickets.

From the passenger seat, Megan read me the directions given by Google Maps as I quickly relearned how to drive in Los Angeles.

About a half hour later, after a few missed turns and misunderstood directions, we arrived at the entrance to Dodger Stadium where we were greeted by the LAPD. Every car ahead of us was being stopped, I figured it was a sobriety check. Megan, being the brains of the operation, declared that they were checking for valid Ticketmaster vouchers. A declaration that I ignored...until we were two cars away. At this point, in all my wisdom, I turned to Megan and said:

"Oh, crap. Baby. They need to see the voucher. It's in the very back of the car. I need you to get it."

And so, with Megan crawling through the back seat of the car, I roll down my window to greet the LAPD. I didn't even have to explain my situation. They simply looked at my girlfriend crawling through the car and decided it was proof enough to let us pass. Let me rephrase that. I didn't have to explain my situation to the LAPD. Megan on the other hand, was less than thrilled with the situation. I believe more than a few "I told you so's" were directed my way.

From the LAPD check point, we followed the road to a drive thru ticket booth, where an attendant scanned and validated our voucher. From there, we were directed to the surprisingly empty parking lot, save for a few rows of cars in orderly lines. We got in a line, waited for our turn and finally, handed over our voucher. Two tickets were given to me and a bracelet was secured around both our wrists. We were quite clearly told that the tickets were not valid without the bracelet and that the bracelet had to be in perfect condition for it to be considered valid. With that we are sent on our merry way, past news cameras and general onlookers and out the exit of the parking lot at Dodger Stadium.

We had heard rumors that the tickets would be for either the Staples Center or a broadcast at the Nokia Theater. As we drove away, Megan scanned the tickets to find that we would be seated at the Staples Center for the service. We had to pull over to text, email, and call as many people as we could...