In every big family there’s one sibling who takes the gift assignment a little too seriously. In the Jackson family, that sibling was Janet.
Katherine Jackson is the mother of Michael Jackson and his brothers and sisters. She raised her children in Gary, Indiana. Later the family made its home in Encino, California. Her birthday falls on May 4, and one year her kids decided to make it one she’d never forget.
Katherine told the story herself, years later, on NBC’s “Dateline.” The interview aired on June 25, 2010.
It started the way a lot of surprise parties do. The children planned it and kept it quiet.
They also went out of their way to make it personal. Katherine had a favorite pianist, and her kids made sure that pianist was on the guest list.
That alone would’ve been a wonderful gift for most moms. But the children had something bigger in mind, and they handed the job to the youngest of them all.
Janet is the baby of the Jackson family. Her brothers and sisters gave her one simple instruction. Go shopping for Mom’s present, and make sure it’s in her favorite color.
Simple enough, right? Most of us would come home with a nice sweater in Mom’s color and call it a day.
Then came the moment Katherine still remembers so clearly. In her own words: “They gave me a party and invited my favorite pianist, and then, there was a long ribbon all the way to where I was sitting”
A long ribbon, stretching all the way to where she sat.
At the other end of that ribbon was Janet’s pick.
“They had told Janet to shop for a car of my favorite color. She had bought a big red Rolls Royce.”
So that was the real assignment. The kids had agreed on a car for Mom, in her favorite color, and they trusted Janet to choose it. She came back with a big red Rolls-Royce.
You have to love the way Katherine tells it. She doesn’t brag about it. She just remembers who was sent to do the shopping and what that youngest daughter came back with, like any proud mom would.
It’s a lovely picture of a family pulling together for Mom. The older kids set up the party, and the baby of the family got to deliver the big surprise.
There’s no video of the party itself that we could find. But if you’d like to hear Katherine in her own gentle voice looking back on her family and her famous son, this sit-down interview is a good place to start.
Katherine Jackson looks back in a sit-down interview
Katherine has spent her life as the center of a very big, very busy family. Her children have given her plenty to talk about over the years.
But of all the stories she could tell about her birthdays, this is the one she chose to share on national TV, ribbon and all.
It’s safe to say Janet took her one job seriously.