suga10 said:

MOL said:

Rebbie is best friends with...Stacy Brown (remember when she defended him from Michael during the trial?) while Joe gets on with Daphne Barak and Latoya hangs out with Victor Gutierrez. What puts me on my nerves is the following: Michael refused to have contact with his family. He kept them away. The family, in order to justify this, came up with the drug addiction excuse. So, despite the fact that they were clueless about his life, the family immediately jumped at conclusions the moment Michael refused to see them. It's never their fault: it's always someone else's. So, now they call him a junkie everywhere. Simply because Michael refused to have contact with them which propelled them to think he was hiding something, so they came up with the drugs excuse in order to justify the distance. They couldn't understand that it was their fault so, eager to justify the fact that Michael wanted nothing to do with them, they came up with the drug addiction excuse.

Even janet said MJ had issues with prescription drugs, and MJ was very close to her. I think he did have problems with prescription drugs at different points of his life.

Regarding his relationship with his family, I remember how those bodyguard on ABC were talking about how MJ refused to let his brothers into his Las Vegas home, and how Randy crashed the gate, and MJ still didn't see him regardless.

Apparently his family had to have appointments to see him.

But then again, Janet also said she hadn't seen him in years so it's kinda hard to figure out when the issues were

And to be honest, they say appointments, but I saw it as "Call me and let me know you're comin'. If you just show up to my crib, you ain't comin' in"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1288055/Michael-Jacksons-children-to-school-time.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

After years of living as one of the most closely protected families in the world, Michael Jackson’s three children are to attend school for the first time.

In an emotional interview to mark the first anniversary of the singer’s death, their grandmother and guardian Katherine Jackson has told The Mail on Sunday that she is determined to give Prince, Paris and Blanket a more conventional upbringing.

Until now, they have been taught at home, in keeping with Michael ’s policy of keeping them largely hidden from the outside world.

‘I’d say I’m a little less strict but I’ve tried to follow the way Michael was raising them,’ she says in her first interview since he died of a suspected heart attack on June 25 last year at his Los Angeles home.

‘But they don’t have friends. They don’t go to school. They have private lessons at home. They’ll be going to a private school in September for the first time.’

The 80-year-old great-grandmother laughs at the idea the children could ever have a wholly normal life, but says they have a healthy routine of daily schoolwork, karate and swimming.

She says there is hardly a day without visits from members of her extended family to her home in Los Angeles. ‘Having them around has helped the children immensely. They go places together and have fun. They listen to Michael’s music.’

Katherine has come under media scrutiny again in recent weeks after reported comments by her husband, Joe Jackson, who said she was in part responsible for Michael’s death – a sentiment he has now retracted.

And last week her youngest son, Randy, was rushed to hospital with a heart attack, but he seems to be recovering.

Throughout, however, she says her priority has been caring for her grandchildren Prince, 13, Paris, 12, and Blanket, eight.

Katherine was made their legal guardian in the weeks following Michael’s death, although she has no control over his estate, which is held in a trust fund.
Michael with his mother Katherine on her birthday in 1984
The three children have been deeply affected, she says. Paris has created a shrine to him in her bedroom. ‘I wanted to hang pictures of flowers or ballerinas, like I would expect a girl would.

But she went into the closet and she brought out seven or eight pictures of Michael and said, “No, I want Daddy hanging in my room. I always want to see him.”

‘So she goes to bed looking at him and wakes up looking at him. Paris has that lovely way like Michael, and I see his talent in her. Whatever she does she’s very good at it. She’s a good artist and plays the piano. She wants to be an actress.’

Katherine believes all three share something of Michael. Prince is interested in the arts, hoping to be a film producer, while Blanket has his sense of playfulness. She says it was some time after Michael took Prince and Paris to a concert to celebrate his 30th anniversary as a solo entertainer in 2001 that they began to understand how famous he was.

‘Michael told me a story. He said the two little ones were in the audience. When he got backstage they said, “So you’re a big star, huh? When I grow up I want to be just like you!” And Michael said he got the biggest chuckle out of that.’
To help her face up to Friday’s anniversary, Katherine has put together a collection of Jackson family photographs, in Never Can Say Goodbye: The Katherine Jackson Archives.

She says: ‘I love looking at photos of my children singing and dancing together, when they looked happy. Not a day goes by I don’t think about Michael.
Prince Michael Jackson and Paris have started karate classes to keep them occupied while they grieve the passing of their father, who died in June last year
‘It’s hard for me to talk about without getting all choked up. Years will pass by and I’ll still feel the same way. I have a nephew I am very close to who I’ve have leaned on a lot. Prayer has helped me. I don’t have any regrets. I just live for the children.’

She continues: ‘Michael was so misunderstood. I remember when he brought gifts up to the house for me: a watch, a necklace and ring. I’ll never forget the way he was smiling when I opened each one. He was so generous. He’d give you the shirt off his back.

‘I want the world to know the real Michael. All these allegations in the tabloids, it’s all rubbish.

‘People with children will understand how I feel when somebody says something ugly about my son, especially when it’s not true. That’s why I’m releasing the book. I’d like him to be remembered as the loving person he was.

'People can’t understand it because of the child molestation claims falsely laid on him. It’s just greedy people who wanted money.’
Family: The singer with his children Paris (left) and Prince Michael in early 2009

A year on from his death, Michael’s mother does not accept he died of natural causes.

‘He was too young for that, but something happened. I heard from people he was taking prescription drugs but I’ve never seen my son in any way  . . .  even talking to him on the phone, he was always himself.

‘I never asked him about that as he was always normal. I don’t think he just died of natural causes. I don’t believe that. It was someone who was watching over him  . . .  and he died. If I could see him again I would ask him, “Who did this to you?”

‘One thing I hope for is the next year will be better for me and the family. I hope people continue to remember Michael and keep celebrating his legacy. I hope that things get better for me in time. His death has already brought the family closer together. I want us to be even more close.

‘I try not to regret. I try not to think like that because I don’t think Michael would have had his life any other way. Sometimes I start to tear up.

‘But I am happy about it because I know the world is missing and remembering my son. I could see the fans taking pictures, posing in front of the house. I know Michael would have been happy to see that. I just miss him every day.’