キャサリン・ジャクソン、マイケルと孫たちの現在の生活を偲んで語る

マイケルの命日の少し前、母親のキャサリンはインタビューで息子について語った。

マイケルさんの12歳の娘パリスさんは部屋を父親の写真で埋め尽くしており、13歳と8歳の息子プリンスとブランケットは、父親を誇りに思ってもらえるようなことをしたいと言い、その後、父親がいなくて寂しいと黙ってしまう。 3 人全員が彼の美しい音楽を聴きながら何時間も過ごします。キャサリンさんは学校に通っておらず、友達もあまりいないそうですが、この9月から私立学校に通う予定です。彼らはいつも家で勉強しており、それが彼らにとって普通の生活です。彼らは特定の時間に寝て起き、エンシノの敷地内の建物で開催される授業に備えます。彼らは空手や水泳も練習し、楽しんでいます。

叔父、叔母、そしてその子供たちはいつもプリンス、パリス、ブランケットと一緒にいて、とても助けになっています。キャサリンさんはこう言います。

「この大きな悲しみを毎日抱えながら、私たちは自分自身との戦いを続けてきました。」

80歳のキャサリンさんは、3人全員がマイケルの特徴の一部を受け継いでいると語った。パリスには音楽の才能があり、父親を失った悲しみを巧みに表現する。

「女の子が好きそうな花やバレリーナの写真を部屋の壁に飾りたかったのですが、彼女はクローゼットの中からマイケルの写真を7、8枚取り出してきました。」

そして彼女はキャサリンにこう言いました。

「いいえ、お父さんの写真を私の部屋に飾りたいのです。」

She sees her father when she goes to sleep and when she gets up. Because:

“I want to always be able to see him.”

Catherine believes:

“Paris, just like Michael, expresses her feelings beautifully, and I see her talent inside her. She does everything well. She’s a good artist. She plays the piano and wants to become an actress.”

“Prince is serious. He wants to film and make movies. Like Michael, he’s fascinated by these things.”

“Blanket is into joking and laughing, just like Michael.”

Michael always kept the children close with his care and protection, and covered their faces, because Catherine says he wanted to protect them from the pressure of his fame and career. And although people always criticized that his children wouldn’t have a normal life because they were hidden from the public, everyone who has met them has described the kids as normal, intelligent, and polite—just as the world saw at Michael’s memorial ceremony last July, or at this year’s Grammy ceremony.

Catherine says that Michael:

“Never told them he was a big star, and they didn’t think he was until he brought them with him to start his 30th anniversary concert tour of his solo career in 2001. He said he never told them what he had done in life. He didn’t want them to know. He didn’t want them to walk around with pride and arrogance. So when they went to see his 30th anniversary solo concert, and they saw their father backstage, they told him, ‘You’re a big star! When we grow up, we want to be like you.’ Michael said that in that moment he laughed to himself.”

It seemed that after Michael’s death, the famous and respected Jackson family was being crushed under violent attacks and accusations.

Nearly a year after Michael’s death, his father Joe—who is known for mistreating his children, especially Michael—blamed Catherine for his son’s death because she “wasn’t taking enough care of his health and lifestyle,” and Joe believed that if Catherine had stepped forward, Michael would have listened to him because Michael was “his mother’s son.”

But Catherine has recently published a book full of family photos of Michael, which she believes tells the truth about her son and may silence malicious rumors and accusations.

She brings back old memories—how her son’s fame and success tortured him.

“Michael was badly misunderstood. His memories are dear to me, and I want to share them with my fans in my book. I remember the gifts I bought for him—watches, necklaces, rings. I’ll never forget his smile when he opened gifts. He was very generous. I want the world to know the real マイケル・ジャクソン—a kind human being. Many don’t believe this because of the accusations made against him. But in truth, they were just greedy people who wanted money. The first son, Jordan Chandler, whose father accused Michael, ended up saying he regretted that he didn’t get the chance to apologize to Michael. Then his father took his own life. I think he was consumed by guilt.”

One year after Michael’s death, Catherine says she never believed that her son’s death was normal.

“He was too young to die. I’ve heard from people that he was taking painkillers and prescribed medicines. But I never saw my son affected by narcotic drugs. He was always himself. If I saw him again, I would only want to know one thing: ‘Who did this to you?’”

She recalls their last family gathering... three weeks before Michael’s death... a dinner to celebrate Catherine and Joe’s 60th wedding anniversary at Catherine’s favorite Indian restaurant in Beverly Hills. And Catherine says it was the happiest celebration imaginable.

But now that a year has passed, Catherine says that for such a painful year, they need extraordinary strength.

Just one week before the anniversary of Michael’s death, another challenge came for the family: Randy, his younger brother, suffered a heart attack after attending a hearing related to Michael’s murder case, and was taken to the hospital. The judge had refused to suspend the medical license of Conrad Murray, the doctor accused of murder.

Catherine says she hopes the new year will be better for them.

“Michael’s death brought us closer, and I want us to be even closer. I know Michael wanted this.”

Source: eMJey / Mirror.co.uk