It’s been a crazy few weeks since pop megastar Michael Jackson passed away and we’ve seen everything from people randomly starting dance parties in the middle of the street to U2 paying homage to the Man in the Mirror to people leaving gifts in front of Neverland Ranch. These are all just small examples on just how much Michael’s music touched the world.

We’ve also witnessed a complete 180° on the way the press has treated Michael after his death. Let’s face it – it’s been easy to laugh or make assumptions about someone that’s different than us, particularly Michael Jackson. We’ve seen him go from a healthy, young superstar to the pale, shattered ghost he became in his last years on earth. Regardless of what you think of his life, his choices or his actions – I would like to tell you a story of how Michael Jackson once saved my life.

It occurred in the late 1980’s, my parents had just divorced and I lived with my mother most of the time. Every day after school I would go to my across-the-street neighbor’s house where both my best friend and baby sitter lived. I would stay there all afternoon and into the early evening until my mom got off work. At first, it was great. I had access to a go-cart, Atari, mechanically inclined Legos and a club house that my best friend and I would use to play in all the time. I mean, what more could a kid ask for? It was a great place to play after school.

READ ON to find out how Michael Jackson saved Jen’s life…

Then one day, things changed. Until now the only people that know what happened to me was my immediate family and a close circle of friends. So here goes: I was molested by my best friend’s older brother. One day turned into the next day, and the day after that and the day after that and it continued for what seemed like a lifetime. I was forced to do things I don’t particularly care to go into detail about, and I have managed to block out a good portion of my childhood memories because of him.  It scared me, it angered me and I was ashamed of what I had let happen to me at such a young age.

I eventually got the guts to tell my sister what had transpired, she told my family and it was put to an immediate stop. Charges were not pressed; my family thought it was too much for me to take on. I do recall the day it ended and my step-father standing on the edge of our lawn with a shotgun in hand, threatening him. I received counseling for a few years and my best friend and I parted ways. In time, we moved away from that house, that town and those neighbors. Even today, I see decisions I’ve made along the way that were directly impacted by what happened to me when I was only 8.

Upon hearing about Michael Jackson’s death a memory sparked into my head about how one of those days I managed to escape those early afternoon meetings in his bedroom. It began with an ear infection. I had bad ears as a child but this particular incident stuck out because of the pain and ringing in my ears was so unbearable. It hurt so much that I was screaming. My mother was stuck at work for a couple of hours so my baby sitter did what should could do and provided me with some ear wax removal solution, Q-Tips, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. So I sat in my baby sitter’s bed and concentrated on that cassette tape.

Until this point I had never thought about music as a way to escape. But it worked. I concentrated on every note, every rhythm, every beat and every lyric. I found solace in music – I still do to this day. Music allowed me a way to not think about the bad things that were happening at the time. Now, I know it was only an album, but that afternoon I was free from all the bad things in the world, especially him. Many believe that Michael Jackson did some pretty unspeakable things in the past, but I just wanted to let the world know that one of his best creations helped me escape the one thing he was accused of – even if it only lasted for 42 minutes, that album will never leave my memory. I think that moment was indirectly responsible for my belief in music today. And for that I am thankful. Music heals, music evokes emotions, music brings people together and most importantly - music saves.