Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch

Michael Jackson is no more although his legacy of hope, courage and generosity will far outlive all of us. One of the many mysteries about the man was his love for the private entertainment park he had built for himself that he called Neverland. Although the project nearly drove him into bankruptcy, he never regretted having built it.
Michael Jackson would frequently talk of his childhood when he was a member of the Jackson 5. There were rarely any times when he could be "just a kid". In one interview he said, "And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead."
That is one of the reasons the Michael Jackson loved kids so much. He saw them enjoying the innocent youth he never had.
He was a great admirer of nature and loved animals so part of his park was a zoo. The livestock gave him great deal of peace as he walked frequently among their pens. There is a silent peace to animals that he found hypnotizing.
After all the trouble he had in building the park, he kept much to himself but, soon, his love of children got the best of him and he shared it with "special" kids. Special meant to him kids that were enduring incredible problems. Leukemia victims were of special interest to him and he let some patients tour the grounds with him often.
Neverland was a project that he loved every bit as much as his music. Some would say he held it in higher esteem than anything else. He once said, "Because I wanted to have a place that I could create everything that I that I never had as a child. So, you see rides. You see animals. There's a movie theater."
The whole project was the sad lament, the cry for lost youth of a man who had been dogged by stardom from a very young age, pushed to do more and more by a driving father.
Libraries could be written about the man.

Article written by Octavien J. Remillard