Ryan White's Mother Remembers Jackson

Mother of Young AIDS Victim Shares Memories of Neverland Ranch and King of Pop's Relationship with Her Son

(CBS)  Michael Jackson wrote the song "Gone Too Soon" in Ryan White's honor.

In 1984, White was diagnosed with AIDS at the age of 13 after he received a tainted blood treatment for hemophilia. Ryan became the face for the disease early on in the AIDS crisis, meeting many celebrities, including the King of Pop.

Befriended by Jackson, Ryan and his mother Jeanne White-Ginder both stayed at Jackson's Neverland Ranch in its heyday, and Jeanne, who appeared on "The Early Show" Friday told CBS News the home was "a place between heaven and Earth."

White-Ginder said her son visited Neverland Ranch at times on his own, and loved the movie theater, Bubbles -- Jackson's chimp, and ordering anything he wanted at Jackson's home.

White-Ginder said the times spent at Neverland are "precious memories." She also showed "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez an album of White's mementos from Jackson's ranch.

White even got a photo with the pop star, she said, who didn't allow cameras on the property.

White-Ginder said on her request, Jackson asked the Neverland Ranch cook to get a Polaroid camera for White to take pictures during his stay.

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Complete coverage of Jackson's life and death

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As for Jackson's relationship with Ryan, White-Ginder said Jackson was always "amazed" with her son.

"I think maybe that was the truth with Michael," White-Ginder told Rodriguez, "Once you met Ryan, you didn't feel sorry for him. Michael said, you know, Ryan never talked about his illness. And he said, you know, he never wanted anybody to feel sorry for him. So I think they really had this good communication of, you know, respect for each other."

White-Ginder added she had no reservations about letting her son stay with Jackson in 1989. White-Ginder said Ryan called her and said he and Jackson watched three hours of "The Three Stooges."

She said White seemed "more mature" around Jackson, who she said loved kids.

"He didn't care what race you were, what color you were, what was your handicap, what was your disease," Jeanne said. "Michael just loved all children."

Jackson gave Ryan his favorite car, a red Mustang, as a gift a year before he died. Ryan White died at age 18 in 1990. White-Ginder said Jackson sat with her and White's sister at the funeral.

At his funeral, White-Ginder said White's car was on display, and Jackson started it and "Man in the Mirror" was playing.

"The little things made Michael so happy," she said. "You could see it in his eyes. He was smiling from ear to ear, and he said, 'I was the last person that Ryan listened to.' And I said 'yes.' Because Ryan played 'Man in the Mirror' over and over and over again."

But White-Ginder said a special memory is the "Gone Too Soon" song and video.

Three days after White's funeral, Jackson called White-Ginder and said he'd promised White he could be in his next video, and now that he's gone, he couldn't do that. But Jackson found a way. The "Gone Too Soon" video featured footage of White, including his media attention as the face of the AIDS epidemic, his life growing up with the disease, and his funeral.

White-Ginder said, "That's a memory we'll share forever."

[mawilkins1]

So many things were "odd" about Michael Jackson This is true.

There were many things that were VERY consistent about him throughout his life. People come to trust others' character by their actions, startng at birth. When a baby cries, and it is held and fed, it learns to trust its caretaker. It is interesting to look at Michael Jackson's life in that same light. He was given a gift of talent most of us have never experienced. He was an addict. He relasped. He loved children. His children loved him. He was mild mannered. He was ecentric. He was giving. He loved fame. He suffered from the scars of abuse as a child. He loved his fans. He suffered from self-hatred; pain inflicted from never being good enough as a child. He gave his time; of himself, to hundreds of terminally ill childrens whose lives he impacted with memorable, fun and special times at his Neverland Ranch. He chose to give or take.
He was gentle. He was kind. He was self-destructive. He was relentless in his work. He was emotional. He was eclectic. He was child-like. He was empty inside. He loved being with children. He was a loving parent. He was selfish. He was empowered by fame. He loved to perform. He loved his fans. He hated the emptiness he had inside. He was depressed. He was manipulative. He was a target. He was vulnerable. He was powerful. He was an enigma. He searched for/fought for his depression until his death. He was an accused child molestation twice. He was aquitted. It nearly killed him. He loved children and innocently and harmlessly touched the lives of thousands and gave them happy memories. Out of those thousands, two accused him of wrongful, dispicable acts. He was acquitted.

He was a phenominal talent, consumed with self-hatred, longing to be loved, whom the public and some of his most trusted employees' comsummed in good ways and bad...until there was nothing left.

He is dead.

There is a greater lesson to learn by his life and his tragic, sudden death..about stones and glass houses... Starting with the man in the mirror. We are not the ultimate judge and juror.

I choose to find the good in his life for choosing to dwell on the bad, as we all have sinned, serves no purpose..than to make ourselves appear better, less sinful, in our own eyes. I choose to not use his life to be self-serving, rather to learn from....MJ was a man of many talents and examples.

He left more smiles on the faces of the lives he touched, then he did frowns; more hearts touched by love than by evilness. That in itself is an example we all can learn from and aspire to follow.

God Bless you Michael... May you be forgiven for sins, rest in peace and May your Memory Be Eternal.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
arretez de pendre michael jackson pour un monstre; laissez le reposer en paix, c'est un etre humain avec defauts et qualités comme tout un chacun, le témoignage de la maman de ryan donne du baume au coeur et prouve que mika a un grand coeur....au revoir

[gjd4peas]

Thanks for running this story. I haven't thought about Ryan White in a while. Just think, he would be a young man, 37 years of age, if he were still with us. I know he exists in many hearts, including mine. I send a thank you to Ryan's mom. From now on, I'll think of Neverland Ranch, using your words: "a place between heaven and Earth." The global community has been able to meet some amazing people. Ryan White and his family are in that group.

[sean7phil]

Jackson was found innocent. People who don't bother to get the facts about the case and then label him like that are just as bad as any child molester. They are social rapists.

[despido]

I remember 'Michael' too - the drug addicted child molestor - now hero.

[freddyfrugag]

It's people like you, who convict without proof and evidence, and just go with what the hype tells you, who really undermine our democracy and basic freedoms.

Michael Jackson was never convicted of being a child molester. He was never convicted of drug use.

You're just hyping the speculation because you cannot accept a person who was very different from the rest of us, and it helps you feel "complete" to put him down.

[11ajwc11]

Do not believe the tabloids/new media, with their salacious spins and innuendos designed to move papers and increase viewership. Instead, read the actual testimony/evidence presented at the trial and you will change your mind...I did. Just as it is wrong to actually molest a child, it is wrong to so recklessly condemn someone of it.

[invincibletruth]

such degenerates like "despido" have twisted polluted mind, who cannot see everything nice and kind because of their perverted sick view, they are not capable of anything kind in their miserable lives and in the end of it slide to hell, literally, hell of their own hate and perverseness.

[mawilkins1]

Again, the consistency in the actions of his life...the examples he gave..both good and bad...the hearts he touched., both good and bad..should be evenly weighed to determine his character. Afterall, should we weigh you by your sins when you die, and negate your goodwill? For if we measured MJ's, even though we should not be anyone's judge and juror lest we are sinfree... he clearly did more goodwill in his 50 years of life, than I trust you ever did, or I have ever done. Thowing stones at an aquitted man, only serves one person. That would be you. It helps make your sins less sinful in your life compared to the good your have done. To be aquitted after a trial and an investigation is pretty tough to do if you are truly guilty. Nonetheless, if he did commit the sin, it is no longer our place to judge, is it? The trial is over on earth. He's elsewhere, perhaps facing another trial of sorts. This one measuring his goodwill over his sins. In that trial, we all can agree, based on consistency and fact, that the balance is weighted much more heavily to the good.

I can only aspire to touch the amount of lives he did in fifty years on this planet, and put the smiles on the faces, warm the hearts and give the love that he gave to so many and be aquitted should I be accused of any dispicable acts bestowed upon others. Wouldn't you?

He has been destroyed, by himself, his staff, his public, and you. Now he is dead. Must we now destroy his memory too?? Would you want that done to you if you were acquitted?? Anyone can accuse anybody of anything.. it's quite another to be put on trial and be acquitted. I'm sure you would be acquitted if those charges were made of you, correct?? So was Michael Jackson. And what he had as proof?? Thousands of children he spent time with whom he never harmed, only touched in a way that you and I never could.. and through love. Would you have that as testimony on your behalf in your own trial should you be accused. I would not.

His balance of goodness over evil? I'm not his judge, nor are you... Not anymore. It's over. Let it rest... Let him rest. In peace.