The other day the soldier was here and he was watching one of the programs on Michael Jackson. I was watching it with him at his insistence.  Everyone knows I’m adverse to TV.

The bit was something they threw together, Michael Jackson, Video King or something like that. It was a look back at his career via his video performances and at one point the hostess remarked something along the lines of Jackson wanting fans and people around the world to note what he had accomplished.

I didn’t catch it exactly. I never watched tv… MTV in my life but perhaps he made a video that spliced together bits from his previous work? In whatever case, she supposed he wanted his efforts and his achievements to be marked and acknowledged. “He wanted to own his history,” she said, or something to that effect. I could relate.

“I understand that,” I told the soldier. ‘They’d criticize him for that but fact is he did some fantastic stuff and I don’t blame for wanting possession of it. Do you know how much work it is to produce his kind of quality?”

The soldier nodded.

“Okay, well I know you don’t feel that way. You don’t care if your work and effort is forgotten but I do care. I definitely want to own my past, I’ll take credit for every bit of it and I insist yours is not lost either. That is why I wrote all that stuff to your son,” I said. “If you’re going to have a story, make sure you have the story right. Here, get the real story not the spun story.  Bastards rewrite history, they discount things, they call us liars and all I can say is I understand Micheal Jackson if that is what drove him. He did do all that stuff and I am glad he put it together to where is could not be denied. That was very smart on his part, I totally approve.”

I glanced at the soldier but he didn’t say anything.

“I know you don’t care,” I said. ‘But just because you don’t care does not mean it’s not important. Some people actually do something with their lives, why should they be denied?  God, did he ever work to be able to do that,” I said, nodding at the screen.  ‘He’s a Virgo you know, they work their asses off, look at him.”