now that i think of it i never understood why i could not find other actual Gary residents on this forum. hmm
thanks for bringing up gary residents.
i live in a town next to Gary now, but i lived there since i was a child, i couldnt get myself to leave my house to go over there the day he died. my family grew up in Gary and we also lived in a small house like Michaels family, but on the other side of gary. i still have relatives that still live there. back then my grandfather owned a restaurant called the ''Chilli Bowl'' where michaels family ate at back in the day, and my grandfather was lucky enough to meet them. (god he was lucky) the restaurant was located across the street where Joesph worked at the steel mills. and alot of steel workers ate there between their shifts..Joe was no different.
its so surreal to me now..i always had this wish to meet michael, because i always felt i had so much in common with him aside from being shy and loving similiar things and etc., but the fact that he can also understand what its like coming from Gary, indiana..that made me an even huger fan. it made me proud of Gary even though its such a small town and has its downfalls. both my grandfathers worked in the steelmill around the time Joe did before they got in the restaurant buisness, my grandmother worked at the same Sears departement store as Katherine did. basically this small town is missing him so much, alot of us have stories of either going to school with the family, living near them, talking to them. hes like our own family member, he showed us, as well and his family that we can achieve anything even if we come from a small american town that tells us we cant accomplish such dreams past gary, indiana.
later, my grandfathers restaurant was knocked down to put up a baseball field in gary which michael came back and visited in its place, sadly that day i had no clue he was in town until he left, i always regreted it even though i had no clue he was there, it still bothers me, why didnt i have the tv on that day? why didnt i join a fan community then? why didnt i have the newspaper? it could have been the only time i would have seen him and i didn't even have to fly to get to him!.. he was right there!, its something i need to try to get over.
but gary loves michael and he never forgot us like some would say. very heartbreaking for us, but everyone around the world.
sadly, bad people want to say hes weird and from another planet, but hes simply a Indiana boy, a Hoosier as we call Indiana folk. he was human and had feelings, and its sad people made his life so stressful.
