Birthday Hearts for Michael and Books for Gary Children

Hello Friends,

Every year for Michael’s birthday I am involved in organizing and participating in a fundraising project for children.  It has recently come about that I will be in Gary this year on Michael’s birthday.  Yay!!  What I have decided to do this year is to bring (or send) copies of my books Smile Effect and Ever After for the children of Gary.   Earlier this year, together with all of you, we sent 77 copies of Smile Effect and Ever After to Jefferson School in Gary.  There are 7 other elementary schools in Gary and also a Youth Services Bureau.  What I would like to do is to buy, with your help, as many copies as we can, to give to the schools.  It is especially meaningful to me to share Smile Effect because the story takes place in Gary, and is written to encourage children to trust their hearts, and show that small actions can create big changes in their own lives and in the world.  The most cost effective way to buy the books is to order them from Amazon at my author’s discount price and have them shipped directly to the schools.  This way, the cost of the books including shipping would be $7 each.  I have a meeting arranged with the Director of the Youth Services Bureau and she said they would happy to take more books, as they already have one copy of each.  Unfortunately the schools are not open until August 24 so I won’t be able to call them until then, but I am hoping to at least drop by and visit as many of them as possible while there, to show them the books and find out how many copies would be useful to them.  If any of you are interested in buying a book (or books) for the children of Gary, you can send contributions by paypal to mjeverafter@gmail.com   I promise to keep you informed about the funds collected and how many books we are able to buy and distribute.
ALSO, if anyone would like to send a birthday heart for Michael, I would be happy to deliver them to Michael’s Gary house on August 29!  PM me for my mailing address.

I am so excited to finally be going to Gary!

Thank you all for your amazing friendship and support.  It’s all for Michael, and all for L.O.V.E

Brenda

For The Children

My youngest child is graduating from High School this month.  Her ceremony, dinner and dance were on Saturday May 30.  Coincidentally, Prince Jackson's graduation celebration was also on this day.
Having a daughter the same age as Prince and Paris, has made me keenly aware of the differences in their lives.  Today, I was thinking about how touching it was to watch her walk across the stage to receive her diploma, and listen to the inspiring speeches.  After months of planning, the dress was ready, hair and nails done, and all too soon, the magical day was over.   I was thinking that it was too bad that Michael wasn't there for Prince's graduation festivities.   Then I realized, if Michael was here, Prince's graduation would not have been anything like my daughters.  He wouldn't have been able to be just a graduate with his dad, one of the crowd.  That would never have been possible.

Then it hit me.  Michael wanted his children to have a regular life.  Without him, they can.  Without him, they are.  His ultimate sacrifice allowed his children to have the freedom that he wanted for them.  Is it too much of a stretch to imagine that he knew this?  In the overall Divine plan, was this part of the reason he left?  Of course, we don't know the details, but somehow, deep inside myself, I really think this is true.

From June 25, 2009 until today, I have never been able to accept that Michael was separated from his children.  It seemed to be the harshest part of the reality of him being gone.   So unfair, so tragic, so terrible!  No parent should ever have to leave their children.  No children should ever have to be apart from their parents.  Having a child the same age, 12, at the time, made my tears flow that much harder.

My own father was not part of my life.  The last time I saw him was when I was eight years old.  He didn't die.  He left.  How sad it is that parents in our society so often don't value the relationship with their children.  Michael loved his so much that he left them, to give them what he never had, a normal childhood.   Today I love Him 1000 times more than yesterday.

Our Song

This morning I was listening to Hold My Hand as I was driving.  Akon has a good voice, it's a beautiful song, but what makes it into an incredibly beautiful song is Michael.  His harmonies, his ad libs, his voice weaving it all together makes my stomach jump and my heart expand.   As I was thinking about how he often sang with other people, sometimes only singing a small part, or background, or chorus, and always seemed to bring the music to life.  As I was thinking about this, I remembered the song he sang with his nephews 3T, I Need You.   I had to laugh when that song came on next on my random selection of over 300 songs.  The song is good, his nephews are fine singers, but my mind had started to wander by the time Michael's part came up.  And then everything stood still as he brought the song to life.  What is really going on here?  I know I love him, but there is no denying the way he adds a whole new dimension to whatever he does.

It reminds me of my life.  It's fine, all is well, and it always has been.  But having Michael in my life, having him be the focus and foundation of all I do, has brought harmony and beauty that I had never known existed until I met him.  He has taken me, an ordinary person with an ordinary life and brought meaning and purpose and Joy and Love beyond all imagining.  He has turned my life into a song with a whole new dimension.  He is always there, sometimes in the background, sometimes taking the lead, sometimes being silent and letting me carry it on my own.  Oh what a song we are creating together.  It's our song.  A work of art.

Michael, thank you for Holding my Hand, I Need You
I love you,
BJ

New Year Prayer

                                        Beloved,

Thank you for another year in which I might love you

Thank you for allowing me to serve Your purpose

Please help me to see myself as You see me

Let me forget myself and live through Your eyes

Seeing all life as divine

That I might grow wings and be with You forever more

I love you 

BJ1/1/15