My kid, and USA for Africa – "We Are the World" Michael Jackson 1985 HD Version

To My Daughter .. this is celebration of only one of many events when you were young...I LOVE YOU!  I STILL know all the words!  Bet you do, too!

Last night as I was falling asleep, I heard this song on the radio. It catapulted me into my past, and that of my precious daughter. As I wrote on the 15th, I knew I had the beginnings of a child who showed compassion, passion to make the world better, and urgings to see people as "one".

This was especially poignant when she was almost 7. When she heard this song, she wanted me to write down the words for her. ("for next year, Mom, when I can read better").  Ha! She had them memorized in a day! And we sang it together for a couple of hours until she felt she knew them. She continued to talk about the song and its essence.  She was getting it, I thought.  Some of her remarks during that process moved me deeply. The values in the song had me loving it, too.  To this day, my eyes haze over whenever I hear it.

So she came to me about a week after her "ordination" into junior "fund raising". "Mom", here is what I want to do, but you will have to help me on a big part of it." I listened hard, because she was indeed goal-focused when she wanted to be. (Math homework? Well, maybe not so much at times!)

"So, mom ... the children in Ethiopia are  starving to death.  I want to help them. I want to go to lots of homes, ... like, um, Trick 'n Treat on Halloween.  I want you to carry my boombox, playing this song the whole time. And I will knock on doors and ask if they could give a little money to help them. But what shall I do to let them know I am not really keeping the money for myself?" ("Hmmmm, alert to scams, the parental side of me thought!)

So we took a day making up a flyer. We made sure that a bank was mentioned, as the place the money would rest until we could send it. (37 top artists collaborated ... a great piece!) It said that 20,000,000 copies of the song were sold, obviously winning the Grammy! It said that $63,000,000 was raised by this global venture, for the famine in Ethiopa. Thus, Live Aid was born, amassing numerous stars and performers. It was staged at Wembley in England and broadcast all over the world. Top flight!

I think every kid I knew was really "into" it. (She definitely thought that was cool, but the fact that Michael Jackson was a significant part of it, could not have made it even more worthy of her attention!) Nothing ... I mean NOTHING ... could get her to a TV faster than she when it would come on ... and if it was in the middle of dinner...well her dad and I just giggled and shook our heads about the smoke she left in her trail! Inside, I was joyful, as I saw these values being breathed in by her. (Kleenex!)

I was delighted with her "staging competency", and we set about for the big evening! We took the sheets to a copy machine, then went out for a milkshake after to celebrate her special event! She was so-o-o-o revved up! And really? So was I! Entering a kid's world sometimes is enormously joyful!  Of all the stars, I'd be hard pressed to say which were my faves, but the energy coming forth (like Cyndi Lauper).Gotta say Stevie Wonder and Bruce "The Boss"
Springsteen knocked it clear out of the park with their segment! And it was poignant to see the whole Jackson family there.  I could listen to it over and over! All of them ...transcendent!

Oops, one more detail she wanted ... a tiny copy of the United States flag, and that of Africa. She cut them out, and we pinned them to her teeshirt.  What a beautiful sight!  Huge brown-doe eyes, floor-sweeping lashes, and missing teeth! Well, I can't describe how proud I was of her.  I put Kleenex in my pocket, because I knew I would really need it that night.

As we were walking out of the house, she told me her "game plan".  From our street,  you could look down on about 40-50 homes. It immediately became clear that she wanted to go to every single one  of them. And this was the kid that sometimes rolled her eyes at a request to clear the table!  I went back inside to change into sneakers!

The first home, at the top of her young crucible, was a neighbor two doors down.  I stood outside, the boombox emanating the song.  Her back and shoulders were so straight as she walked up the driveway, and you could just feel her zeal for this. She tripped on the man's step, but recuperated in a flash, avoiding a total face-plant, and was knocking on his door.  (Mom's thought here:  the strength and confidence of that diminutive fist knocking. How did we get to "here" so fast?  Kleenex time! And we had barely started!)

When the neighbor answered, he looked irritated, perhaps interrupted.  She stood quietly for a moment looking at him directly (awesome intuitive response, I thought!), and then started her little speech. Her little voice never wavered as she asked him for a little money to give to these children in Ethiopia. Almost before she finished, he cut her off   with a grumpy, "NO!" For some odd reason, they continued to look at one another.  Then, I heard my daughter say, "You don't have to give quarters, but if you have some pennies, they would be okay....." (Mother or not, this pitch would have surely gotten me!). So he dug around in his pants pockets, and finally came up with four pennies. When he handed those to her, she looked at the coins for a few seconds in her palm. Was she counting them? What next, I thought. She stuck out her hand to shake his, and said in the utmost innocent, gracious   voice, "Thank you, sir. The children in Africa will eat better now." (Kleenex coming out again!)

When she got back to me, the man's door was closed, and I complimented her on the impressive way she had handled that whole thing. "Mom". she said. "he knows 4 pennies can't get much food. He'll think about that." And she skipped merrily on her way to the next home.  For her, it was a highly successful "cold call" ... regardless.

At the end of the evening, she had amassed $32 and some cents.  Her father had said we would match whatever she collected.  You might have thought she had made a million dollars! In her world, she did. And when we went to the bank to prepare the check, her eyes shone brighter than any dime!

Listen to it! Put this on full-screen! It gives you goosebumps! A great piece!
Yup, Kleenex again!

(FYI - I wondered why everybody was using songsheets.  Apparently there were numerous factors which made the taping session impossible for all of the artists to appear together. So, this date was the only one open. Thus, this final recording was done on one night.  No one had even seen the words yet. After what is said to be a 9-hour session, this was their "final word"!  All that makes this even more electrifying!)