Catherine Jackson - Mother with a capital letter

A rare woman in our time can afford to raise more than two children, and for many, motherhood becomes a real burden. But one very strong woman, by her example, has proved that it is possible to grow and bring up nine children in love and care, while some of them are world-famous stars, among them the legend and the King of Pop Michael Jackson. This is Catherine Jackson. The biography of this beautiful woman is really special, it's not in vain that she was awarded the "Mother of the Year" award in 1985.

Young years

The birthplace of Catherine Jackson (photo of the woman see in the article) is the province of Barbor in Alabama (USA), where she was born on May 4, 1930 in the family of the farmer Prince Albert Vinta and Marta Upshaw. A little later, their family changed their name to Skruz in honor of the family, whose slave was great-grandfather Katherine, whose name was Candel Brown. His melodious voice knew the whole district. Jackson believes that, perhaps, the penchant for singing was transmitted genetically to her genus.

In 1934 the family Skruz moved to Chicago, because his father was looking for work and settled in the factory, and then on the railway. But soon, Martha and Prince Albert divorced, and Catherine, as well as her sister Hattie, stayed with her mother. In the 1930s, the vaccine against poliomyelitis, the so-called childhood paralysis, was not yet invented, so at that time many children died from it or remained disabled. It was this disease that struck Catherine in a year and a half. For many years the girl went on crutches and spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital. She could not even finish school in time. Kathryn received the certificate already being an adult, having passed the evening courses. A little lameness remained with her for life.

Their music connected

As a teenager, because of her illness, Kate, as her family and friends call her, was very shy. Over it, often laughed classmates, and the only outlet for her was music. The girl sang in the Baptist church of their town, but she dreamed of becoming an artist someday. As a young girl, she fell in love with Joseph Jackson, who was a very temperamental and musical guy, but he chose another. True, a year later the couple divorced, and Joe started dating Kate. Soon, on November 5, 1949, they were married in Indiana, in a place called Crown Point. Then the couple moved to the industrial town of Gary, where she lived for many years. According to close people, Katherine Jackson adored her husband, and even knowing about his intrigues on the side, closed their eyes, because the divorce of her parents was for her a severe trauma. Catherine vowed to herself that she would have a marriage once and for life.

The real mother-heroine

The Jackson family lived in a black quarter in a small house consisting of three rooms, which the head of the family bought in 1950. It was there that all their children were born. On May 29, 1950, Rebbe appeared (born Maureen), on May 4 of the following year, Sigmund Esko, better known as Jackie, was born. October 15, 1953 was the birthday of Tito (full name Toriano Adaryl), and in December 1954 the third son, Jermaine Lahuan, was born. The future infamous singer LaToya was born a year later, on May 29.

In March 1957, the Jackson family had twins, Marlon David and Brandon, although the latter died a few days later. The seventh child, born on August 29, 1958, was Michael. Catherine Jackson in her book recalled that the name of this child was given by her mother. In 1961, was born Stephen Randel, well, the last was a girl, Janet Damita, another star child of the mother-heroine.

With God in the Heart

While Joseph was working in the factory to feed the whole family, Catherine skillfully managed the house and farm. Children were brought up by work, everyone had their own duties around the house. The Jackson family lived very poorly, often they did not have enough money for the most necessary things, but they learned to settle for small things. Clothes for children Catherine often had to sew herself. She always zealously believed in God, was a Baptist, then a Lutheran, until she found herself in Jehovah's Witnesses. This teaching became her lifeblood, and she also tried to impart her religious views to the family, especially her influence was succumbed to by Rabby, LaToya and Michael.

After an unsuccessful attempt by Joseph, who dreamed of fame, playing in a band, he hid his guitar in the closet. Katherine is the owner of a remarkable soprano, and the guys often took out the instrument and sang together. Father once heard their singing, and so the band "Jackson 5" was born, in which the mother of the family played the role of a stylist and selected the boys costumes.

Family support

Since gaining the glory of the "Jackson 5" Joseph managed them and toured with them. He had been convicted of infidelity more than once, and now he started all the hard. The last straw was the moment when Catherine Jackson learned about the illegitimate daughter of her husband in 1974. But her religiousness, her vow to herself for one marriage for life, and children caused her not to file for divorce, although she really wanted to. Since then, her relationship with her husband has gone wrong, and after a while they have ceased to live under the same roof, but nevertheless she continued to be an excellent mother, devoting herself to children and religion.

In 1991, she released her autobiographical book Mama, where most of her memories were about her most famous child, Michael Jackson. She constantly tried to protect her stellar children from attacks by the press. The death of Michael in 2009 was for her a grave tragedy, from which she can not recover until now. In 2010, this incredibly strong woman still filed for divorce. The last straw was the accusation of Joseph, according to which, Catherine was to blame for the death of her son. At the moment, this 85-year-old lady is engaged in charity and even decided to prove herself in the flower business. Having brought up nine children, Catherine Jackson does not stop there, because now she is the guardian of three children of Michael.