A fan signs a poster covered in messages outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday.

Samantha Hillstrom
CNN Production Assistant

Michael Jackson died on my birthday. It was 4 p.m. on a normal Thursday. Happy Birthday text messages, flower deliveries, gifts from co-workers and the promise I would get out of work a few hours early to have a birthday dinner with friends was making the day go by quite nicely. Then we got word that Michael Jackson’s trip to the hospital turned out to be worse than we’d feared. I canceled my birthday dinner.

When I finally left work that night to start celebrating, the streets were filled with Jackson’s music. There was something profoundly powerful about seeing a group of strangers cheer in respect, recognition and appreciation for songs we’ve heard most of our lives.

That following weekend at the New York City Pride Parade, nearly every float that passed by played “Billie Jean” or “Bad” or “Beat It.” And every time, like clockwork, the crowd would scream in that same excitement…even if they had heard those songs just a few minutes earlier.

In the week and a half since Jackson’s death, I’ve edited countless pieces of footage, searched through hundreds of pages of photos of him and received hourly updates on the story of his death. However, I don’t think I truly realized Michael Jackson was dead until I saw the rehearsal video that was shot two days before he died. I watched him sing his heart out, memorized the few dance moves from the quick clip and realized that yes, “this is it.”

Watching Jackson perform always incites in me a certain amount of nostalgia. But it’s not seeing “Thriller” or a young Michael perform with the Jackson 5 that has impacted me the most over the past week. It’s the group of people standing outside the Apollo singing to his music. It’s the way people start dancing immediately at a bar when they hear “Rock With You.” It’s the fact that in one day, when my co-worker and I watched the final video of Michael rehearsing “They Don’t Care About Us,” we knew the dance moves and immediately got out of our seats to do them.

One of the first things I learned in journalism class was that you must leave your opinions and emotions at the door when reporting the story. I’ve worked with the same people now for over a year and couldn’t tell you who they voted for in the 2008 election. But do I know their favorite Michael Jackson song? You bet I do.

The outpouring of responses at Michael Jackson’s Memorial at the Staples Center this morning is not only a testament to his talent but to his impact on people’s lives across the world. Televisions and computers will be tuned in as family, friends and fans pay tribute to his legacy. From New York to New Zealand, we will all be sharing the same experience.

My birthday turned out differently than I expected when I went into work but I’ve learned more than I thought I would from Michael Jackson’s death. As a country and across the world, we have shared in his music, his dancing, his life story and our own grief. In a world where we see the economy declining, two wars overseas and unemployment rates rising…leave it to Michael Jackson to once again bring us together through music and remind us just how lucky we are.