OCEANSIDE -- When thousands of Michael Jackson fans descend Tuesday on Staples Center in Los Angeles to mourn the "King of Pop" at a huge public memorial service, Vista resident Dolores Corona will be there -- tissue in hand, but Jackson's iconic songs in her heart.
Corona, 55, was among an unknown number of North County residents and thousands of Jackson fans nationwide who obtained highly sought-after tickets to Tuesday's star-studded event. She said she entered the lottery-style drawing because Jackson's music has always been a part of her life.
"I love Michael Jackson -- I've been a fan since I was a girl," she said Monday as she prepared to head to Los Angeles with her business partner, Terri Mario, who is joining her at the service.
Corona, who has a grown daughter and two grandchildren, said her husband of 39 years laughed when she told him she signed up for the drawing, predicting her name would never be picked.
More than 1.6 million people registered to win the free tickets -- two per person -- and only 8,750 names were chosen. Those folks will join a crowd of celebrity mourners set to include Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Lionel Richie, Brooke Shields, Usher and John Mayer.
Corona said she was thrilled to discover she had nabbed a seat, but briefly panicked because she didn't see the e-mail until late Sunday night -- three minutes before the deadline to secure the tickets would expire. She tried to enter the confirmation code the e-mail supplied, but fumbled it a few times before finally getting it right with only moments to spare.
At work on Monday -- she and Mario own Always There Home Care, a home health care service in Oceanside -- Corona could barely contain her excitement.
"I'm so excited, but I know I'm going to be crying," she said in a telephone interview, stopping briefly for a back-and-forth with a friend about what kind of poster Corona should carry.
Corona said she heard news reports over the years about Jackson's troubled private life, including charges of child molestation, but isn't thinking about that now.
"I think when someone passes away, you have to focus on the positive," she said. "He did a lot of good work and you have to recognize that.
"Anyway, in court, he was proven not guilty," she added. "He went through all the legal channels, and that's how it turned out."
Call staff writer Melanie Marshall at 760-901-4079.
