Our childhood rests in peace: Lille’s earliest Michael Jackson memory

For my great-grandmother’s 90th birthday, my gigantic family rented the ballroom of Manila Hotel and planned a program that involved singing (of course), dancing (of course), and lots of shoulder pads. I was maybe six or seven, and my older sister (Di was about 10 or 11, I think) was tasked with choreographing a dance number with me and my little sister. I think JB and Jan were part of it too, but I don’t really remember. I just remember dancing around cars in our driveway to “PYT (Pretty Young Thing),” trying to copy Diwata’s every move. She was my idol (still is), and even though I don’t copy her every move any more, I still think of those after-school afternoons as one of the best times of my life.