The first time I met Michael, as a co-worker, it was super casual. He was making his rounds before his shift just chatting it up with fellow colleagues and friends. I was stealing coffee from the sales department because the studio thermos was empty.
Suddenly, I was face to face in the presence of this man, who I knew was just a person but my brain just could not get over the fact that in front of me, holding out a hand to shake, was the soundtrack of my childhood. Every memory flooded back.
I grew up in Northeast Ohio and have lived lots of places since then. I'm glad to be back, raising my child in my hometown and see how much things have changed, and stayed the same. Standing in front of Michael that day, made me even more grateful.
He, of course, wasn't in on the internal fan screaming going on inside my brain. He was just hanging out and being as cool as he always had been. I, on the other hand, flashed back to Loyal Oak Lake Swim Club where we used to play video games in the arcade singing out loud to the Michael Stanley Band being blasted through the speakers. "That's... Michael Stanley! It's THE Michael Stanley! I am standing in front of him and he is talking TO ME!"
Now, I've been doing this radio thing a while, so I meet lots of artists and "celebrities". It's not like a big deal really once you realize that everyone "famous" is really just another person doing what they personally do best. But this wasn't that. This was me, totally frozen in time.
If you grew up here, if you spent time in our city, you know, MSB is just what you always knew as music. You don't have to google the lyrics to "Heartland" or "Lover" and you know that the entire globe needs to find someone who loves them like Michael loved Cleveland when he sang "My Town".
"Anything you say will sound dumb, so shut up Lizzie", the internal dialogue went on in my head like a teenager suddenly seeing the posters on her wall talking to her in a workplace hall. But Michael wasn't having any of that. He just kept treating me like the friend and colleague he had met. Smiling and kind and just as awesome a person as one could ever have met.
I'm very honored to have grown up in Northeast Ohio. To have had Michael's music be the soundtrack of my childhood. Honored to be back to know Michael has always been the soundtrack of our city still. Honored to have met him, worked with him and so humbled and honored to be able to have shared in the celebration so many of us are today.
Michael was really one of the best. And we're all pretty fortunate to have gotten to experience him - in all the memories we have.
We loved him so much. And, he loved us - right back.
Giddy star struck fans turned colleague and all...
Thank you Michael.
- Liz