Legacy FilesApril 27, 2011What a great time I had giving Treasure her dot today. It was a different kind of ceremony. As always, I try to think about what Michael Jackson would want the Tribute to do. Sometimes I place dots up on a stage in front of hundreds of people. Sometimes I place dots for celebrities in front of the media. Today I met Treasure and her mom at a park. It was the perfect setting and I thought if Treasure is bringing her mom then I should bring my mom, too. So my mom and I got to spend some quality time with Treasure and her mom. The only cameras around were the ones our moms were holding.After I drew Treasure's dot I gave her my pen and she gave me a Friends of Treasure T-shirt. When it was time to go, Treasure's mom, Chelsa, had to call Treasure back to say goodbye. She and her friend went to an open area and played catch with a tennis ball. After all, she is a kid and we were at the park. It was at that moment when I realized we had accomplished our...

Legacy FilesAutumn 2010RomeWhat an amazing time I had in Rome. The people were so welcoming and gracious. The event we had at Antica Biblioteca Valle was large enough to get to meet with fans but it still had a "home" feeling to it. I think that was because of how kind everyone was. We started off with showing people the portrait and then a few people spoke to the crowd.  With the help of an interpreter, I was able to speak about the meaning behind the portrait and why it is important for us to continually build our Tribute and participate in our Tribute community. I was then able to place dots for people as they watched up close.After some delicious food we were treated to fantastic dance performances by both professional and non-professional MJ fans. The performers gave everything they had and the audience enjoyed every bit of it. It truly was a night I will never forget. I feel like I...

Legacy FilesAutumn 2010  Meeting JoshuaAs you may have realized by the photos, for the travel to Europe, the portrait had to be disassembled.By this time we were one week into the trip. We had mastered air-travel with all our baggage and the portrait; however, the journey to Joshua involved the first international train travel – heaving and throwing several boxes, the easel and portrait components on and off of the multiple trains, and running with all the baggage from one train station platform to another, since the journey involved multiple trains. (We are considering submitting audition footage for The Amazing Race.) Caught sleeping at the train station.....and on the train.Meeting Joshua was an amazing experience.  We were welcomed into the warm-coziness of the Badder home, so relaxing after a week on the road. We were treated hospitably by Joshua, him mom, his dad and his grandmother. We were spoiled...

Legacy FilesAutumn 2010Munich to Brussels viaUtrecht, Gouda, Alexander Polder and RotterdamWhen we arrived in Utrecht from the long overnight train ride, we learned that there’d been a big fire in the train station and there were no departing trains. What was going to be an 11-hour train ride ended up being an 18-hour day involving several trains, one taxi and one bus, as we were repeatedly sent to train stations that turned out to be closed due to the majority Dutch train system being off line and/or off schedule.  But it was all worth it because I got to witness Michelle being giddy with an overly handsome waiter while we were stuck in Gouda. I’m not sure she focused on half of the directions he was giving us, which may have caused further delay. In her defense, he was really good-looking.The Gouda restaurant story is reminding me that I need to apologize to the fine people who were dining in the restaurant of our Rome hotel when Michelle and I created a small scene....

Legacy FilesAutumn 2010 Amsterdam – Part 2Only a handful of hours before we needed to catch the flight to Israel, so we took a quick stroll over to the Anne Frank house and got a bite to eat (pancakes with ice cream on top). Then we caught a taxi to go meet with Dutch fans at a café near the train station. After searching high and low and making ourselves rather late, we found the café in the most obvious possible place, and had a very special, quiet meeting with the fans. We formed a circle with our chairs, and I had a chance to get to know some of the people behind the dots. I drew dots, signed autographs and we took lots of photos. Cool.                                                  Yum!                                            ...