Remembering September 3rd, 2009 ~ One Year Ago
Today commemorates one year since our beloved Michael was laid to rest.
“When you are sorrowful, look into your heart, and you shall see that you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” ~Kahlil Gibran
September 3rd, 2009 ~ The private funeral service in honor of Michael Jackson took place after dark in the open air outside The Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. Michael’s brothers, Randy, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, acted as pallbearers as his gold-plated coffin was removed from a hearse. All were identically dressed in black suits, each wearing a solitary white sequenced glove in remembrance of Michael. Michael’s children, Prince 12, Paris 11, and Blanket 7, sat in the front row next to his parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson.
The stage was covered with six large bouquets of white lilies and white roses, and on either side of a flower-decorated dais stood two pictures of Michael in a bright yellow shirt and thick gold belt. The casket was adorned with flowers.
A statement was released to the press which read: “The Jackson Family wishes to once again thank all of Michael’s fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time. Their expressions of love for Michael and his music have sustained the Jackson Family.”
To prepare Michael for his final farewell, his family turned to the three people who had been dressing him, and making him up, for more than a quarter century: Dennis Tompkins, Michael Bush and Karen Faye.
“Nobody else could have done it,” said Karen, about the honor to make up her friend one last time. “I knew how he wanted to look. So I did it for his children.”