A Michael Jackson Foundation Gift for a Disabled Man

James Waddell, a 46-year-old Michael Jackson fan, now wears his glittering, sequined glove wherever he gets the chance. This year, when he asked for more Michael Jackson songs to be played at the Christmas celebration prepared for him by charitable volunteers, no one was surprised. Since he is a disabled man, he is cared for along with other disabled or handicapped people at the Community Haven center. His Christmas gift was also a CD of Michael’s songs.

But the gifts went beyond that when a news report featuring James Waddell aired on television, and John Branca and John McClain, the heads of the Michael Jackson Foundation, saw a disabled man saying that he was a fan of the King of Pop. That’s when the Michael Jackson Foundation sent him a box full of Michael-themed gifts, including concert DVDs, his copy of the game Experience, and a T-shirt. In a letter inside the box, it was written:

“Happy Christmas holidays. We wish you the best in 2013!”

One of the center’s employees, who has lived with Waddell for ten years, says: “He is completely Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is what makes him happy.”

On Friday, James put on his black curly wig, the shiny red Thriller jacket he had worn last year during the Halloween dance contest — and, of course, the participant number tag “44” was still not removed from it. He wore the white sequined glove that the Michael Jackson Foundation sent him. He put Michael’s concert DVD into the player and started dancing. When Michael took off his white glove and threw it toward the screen, James followed suit. A few minutes later, as he went to the kitchen to do his dishwashing duty, he was still dancing.

Source: eMJey.com / Herald Tribune