Michael Jackson Live at The La Sports Arena 1988 / Photo by SGranitz/WireImage.com

In the days to come, you will hear a lot of negative stories -- some true, some not -- about Michael Jackson. His squandered fortune. His strange health history. His failed marriages. But I can remember a time when "Michael Jackson" only meant good things.

I remember being five years old and listening to Bad on cassette tape over and over again. I remember being eight and playing Michael Jackson's Moonwalker on my Sega Genesis until my eyes started to tear.

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I remember going to Disney World with my family and seeing Michael Jackson in the 3D movie Captain Eo. I remember how my friend Adam Litovitz could do the moonwalk better than anybody else in our 4th grade class. I remember the thrill of being allowed to stay up late and watch the video premiere of "Black or White." I remember when Michael Jackson was more than a freak.

I'm 27 years old. Right before I left the office last night, I asked a 21-year-old SPIN colleague if he could remember a time when Michael Jackson wasn't best known as a public train wreck, a punch line. His first memory of MJ was the "Scream" music video from 1995, but even then, he knew about the allegations of child sexual abuse.

I called my sister. She's 19. Her first memory of Michael Jackson? "As someone who looked white but was really black."

It's sad to think that I might be part of the last age group that can recall when Michael Jackson was great.

I can remember when Michael Jackson was magical, charming, kind, and seemed as wonderfully superhuman as Mickey Mouse or a Transformer. I believed in him as a video game character and the captain of an intergalactic spacecraft. That's why all my friends and I tried to mimic his dance moves on the carpet of Mr. Bryk's classroom -- he was a hero.

I remember when Michael Jackson was a joyous spectacle, not a sad one, and when his ubiquity was a good thing. I wish we all could say the same.