Beech Tree News Network

Ten years ago this week, Tuesday to be exact, two pretty important events occurred in the life of this then 30 year-old.  I was on the way to my final college class-which was really a dinner, as we’d already finished all our coursework.  I can’t recall exactly where we ate.  It’s been a decade so it might not even be there anymore. Just as important to a music geek such as myself, Michael Jackson passed away. 

I remember getting ready.  I was extremely glad we didn’t have to bring any books or materials.  Four years of lugging books from Rochester to Bowling Green was getting old, even if it was just one night a week-two nights on rare occasions.  Four years of four hours of class a night (and countless hours of work on your own) added up to a ton of time and work put in. 

I was excited and relieved on that final night: excited to have dinner with friends who I’d been in the scholastic trenches with the past four years and relieved I wouldn’t have to sit in a class four hours anymore.  Even though we all haven’t exactly kept up with each other over the past decade, we’ll always have that scholastic bond.

As far as Michael goes, we’ll always have his music.  And that night, for me, will forever be remembered for those two events.  As I type this, I’m listening to Essential Michael Jackson on Spotify.  It’s actually taking me back to that night,  I remember feeling, in addition to excited and relieved as I wrote above, I was also wondering what was next.  What would be next, as it turns out, was an awesome realization as to what I would be doing for years to come. I need not get ahead of myself, though.  That’s for next week’s column.