Fans visit Michael Jackson's boyhood home in Indiana
By Don Tagala, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau | 07/03/2009 12:02 PM
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Fans continue to flock to Michael Jackson’s humble boyhood home in Gary, Indiana since the pop icon’s death broke the news last week.
Rain or shine, fans visited the corner of Jackson Street and Jackson Family Boulevard everyday to pay their respect to the legendary king of pop.
“Being at his house is sad. Because everybody's kind of sad that he died and all,” said a fan, Sabrina Chin of Carson City, California.
“On our way here, that's when he passed away last Thursday and we flew in. So we just had the idea of, we're in the area, so why don't we just take a detour and see what's going on,” said another fan from Palm Springs, California Ann Ellis.
All nine of the Jackson siblings were born and raised here. Michael was eleven when the Jackson Five left Gary for Hollywood.
“It's very hard to look at, you know, growing up with nine brothers and sister to live in a very small home, and was able to overcome that and finally made money for himself and his family. You know, humble beginnings,” said Janice Ramirez, another fan from Carson City.
Jackson's cousin David Fossett now lives here.
“Even though this is his birthplace, his home is really out in Los Angeles so it's definitely up to his mom, exactly where she would like him to be buried,” Fossett said.
“I mean Gary would be a good place for him to come but I don't know if the accommodations here would be enough to handle a big superstar like that," he said.
The King of Pop has only been back to Gary once since he left for superstardom.
Mayor Rudy Clay now calls the boyhood home the new Graceland. Plans are underway to hold a massive memorial service in here on July 10th.
With the mayor in constant contact with the Jackson family, the City of Gary has been preparing for the possibility of their most famous son being laid to rest in his hometown.
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