“Dad, would you rather our success happened to someone else?” I’d reply, chuckling.

     But it’s a serious question that deserves a serious answer. I wish I had it. While I feel my children’s talent is God-given, I don’t believe that He chose them to accomplish everything that they have in their careers. All I can do is point to the ingredients of our success story: talented kids, committed parents, Gary’s musical environment, a desire for a better life, hard work, and perseverance. And some luck.

     It’s still hard for me to grasp the distance that I and my family have come -- it seems much too far a distance to cover in just one lifetime. When I was a child my teachers encouraged my classmates and me to read as many books as possible over the summer, rewarding us with a star in the fall if we read a certain number. As there was no television back then, I managed to do a great deal of reading, especially about children who live in different lands. And I would dream, always I would dream. I would wonder: What is life like in Germany? In Holland? In Japan? And to think that I’ve visited all those countries that I used to daydream about.

     It’s so awesome for me to contemplate the “big picture” of our lives that I wind up dwelling on moments. Occasionally, when Joe and I are lying in bed at night, one of us will become nostalgic: “Remember when .... ?” Before we know it, we’re reliving one of the countless special moments in our family’s past: our kids’ living room sock hops, the Jackson Fives public debut at the department store in Glen Park, Illinois .... Joe will never admit publicly that he can be just as sentimental as I, so I just did it for him.

     Thinking back, I’m grateful for my early struggles. As I tell my kids: “You’ve been truly blessed to have been without in our lives. It helps you to appreciate what you have now, and to understand those who are in the position today that you were once in.”

     Proud as I am of my children’s achievements, a part of me would gladly trade my life today for our life “without” in Gary. Does that sound crazy? It’s just that our family is close now, but it was closer then. It’s something about the kids’ shoveling snow for the neighbors so that we could buy something to eat for dinner. We struggled together, and stuck together. Money makes you independent, and that’s the difference. But mothers have to let go of their kids one day, and maybe I just didn’t -- and don’t -- want to.

     I’m still as involved in my kids’ lives as they’ll let me be. If they get a special yen for a sweet-potato pie or a peach cobbler, they know who to ask. If they’re sick, they know who’s going to show up at the front door with soup medicine.

     Since I love to fuss over my kids, I guess it’s only fair play that they fuss over me. Janet especially keeps an eye on me. We have a pool in our backyard, and she’s always saying, “Stay away from that pool, Mother. You know you can’t swim.” If I’m sick, and she finds out, forget it. She’ll have her secretary call me and ask me to make an appointment with my doctor, and then call her back to tell her what time the appointment is, so that I’ll have to go. And I’ll be thinking, My gosh, Janet’s treating me like a baby.

     While I’m happy just to hear my children say “I love you” at the end of a phone call, they’ve also insisted on showing their love for me in lavish ways. Every few years they select a day between my birthday, May 4, and Mother’s Day to do something extravagant for me (as a Witness, I don’t celebrate my actual birthday). In 1984, they really went overboard.

     All I was expecting that May night was a quiet dinner with LaToya at the Bistro Gardens in Beverly Hills. When we walked into one of the restaurant’s private rooms, however, I was stunned to see the whole family standing there -- including my father, whom the children had secretly flown in from Indiana. “Surprise!” they hollered, as tears streamed down my face. The children had even hired Floyd Cramer, one of my favorite country and Western artists, to provide the music (I still love country music and enjoy the music of all the current stars).

     After dinner, I opened my gifts. They included a beautiful watch, ring, and bracelet. Then I was handed a multicolored streamer. “Just follow the ribbon,” I was told. The streamer led me out of the restaurant and right to the front door of a Rolls-Royce adorned with a giant bow.

     The kids probably get a kick out of spoiling me because they know I don’t like to spoil myself. You can still find me shopping at the local Pic ‘n’ Save, and even the Salvation Army, where I buy books and an occasional antique.

     The one big purchase I’ve ever made on my own is my Las Vegas house. I bought it in 1988 not only because I wanted a place to go on weekends to escape Los Angeles and the constantly ringing telephone, but also because I wanted to recapture a silence of my life in Gary.

     It’s just a regular house on a regular street. It’s not hidden behind gates; you can walk right up to the front door from the sidewalk. I can look out the kitchen window and see children playing, and cars going by. In these ways the house reminds me of life before the boys became famous. I love it.

     I don’t want to give the impression that I’m too hung up on the past to appreciate the present and the future. One of the aspects of my family’s story that amazes me the most is that there are still chapters to be written.

     Not only does each of my children remain involved in show business, but also some of their children are gearing up for lives in the spotlight. One of my kids has already been upstaged by a member of the next generation of Jackson dreamers.

     JERMAINE: In 1986 I performed at a racetrack in Belgium where I had a car entered in a twenty-four-hour race. I had my son Jermaine, Jr., then nine, and my daughter, Autumn, then seven, with me, and before I went on, I asked them if they would like to join me onstage; Jermaine loves to dance and Autumn loves to sing. They said they would.

     But when I called them out during the show, Autumn was too shy to join me. But not Jermaine, Jr. And he didn’t just run out onstage like most kids would in that circumstance; he danced from the wings into the spotlight! The thirty thousand people in the grandstands went nuts. The next day, all the reviews of my show mentioned him .... specifically how he stole the show from me.

     Seeing how talented not only his oldest kids were, but also Rebbie’s, Tito’s, and Marlon’s, Jermaine came up with the idea of having the grandkids perform in Family Day talent shows.

     When Joe and I host Family Day, the talent show -- otherwise known as the “show for grandma” -- is staged in out theatre.

     JERMAINE: The kids use the guest room across the hall as their changing room. If you were to walk into the room before or during a show, you’d swear you were backstage at a play. Gowns are spread across the bed; everyone’s changing costumes. The kids take these shows seriously. They know that their parents and grandparents know what makes a professional performance, and they want to impress us.

     Other Talent Show regulars include Tito’s children, Taj, seventeen; Taryll, fifteen; and Tito Jr., twelve. They perform together as the Three T’s.

     TITO: Out of all the grandkids, they’re the only ones who started singing when they were tots. They’ve been “wanting it” since they were knee-high.

     Rebbie’s two oldest, Stacee, nineteen, and Yashi, thirteen, have also taken the stage on Family Day. Stacee loves to sing, while Yashi loves to dance. Both want to turn professional.

     Jackie’s son, Siggy, thirteen, has displayed his rapping talent during Talent Shows; his daughter Brandi, seven, has sung and danced.

     Marlon’s three children -- Valencia, fourteen; Brittny, twelve, and Marlon, Jr., eight -- are also talented dancers and singers.

     In fact, my only grandkids who haven’t yet gotten an act of some sort together are Rebbie’s son, Austin, and Jermaine’s sons, Jeremy, Jaimy, and Jourdyn. But give them time: The oldest among them is only three.

     Jermaine and his ex-wife, Hazel, were so impressed with the grandkids’ performances on Family Day that they hatched the idea for a TV show starring them: “JAM: the Jackson All-American Music Hour.” The way that Jermaine and Hazel have planned it, the kids will do takeoffs on their parents and other entertainers, as well as perform their original material.

     But even if a snag develops and the “JAM” TV series doesn’t work out, there will be other opportunities for the grandkids. There’s even talk in the family of forming a new Jackson Five composed of Tito’s sons and Jermaine’s two oldest, or some other combination of grandkids.