The image of Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, pushing a shopping trolley reportedly loaded with sleeping bags and toys through her local convenience store two days after her son's sudden death was a poignant one.
It spoke of a practical woman; a matriarch widely credited as the core strength of her family; a grandmother now facing the prospect in her twilight years of raising her three young grandchildren.
But Katherine Jackson, 79, has always shown a remarkable resilience. Born in May 1930 in Alabama, she was afflicted with polio as a child. Her marriage to Joe Jackson in 1949, was difficult. The mother-of-nine has publicly spoken of her pain at discovering he fathered an illegitimate child.
When Michael faced trial over child molestation charges she was the only member of the family to sit in court, day after day, until his acquittal.
And when her daughter, La Toya, threatened to expose family disunity in print, she moved swiftly to protect those close to her by releasing her own memoirs, My Family, to set the record straight, as she saw it.
It was Katherine, a devout Jehovah's Witness, who first spotted the potential of her boys, and especially the young Michael. Musically gifted, she played several instruments in high school, and encouraged her own family to sing.
Rainy days were spent harmonising in their modest family kitchen in Gary, Indiana. It was she who eventually opened Joe Jackson's eyes to the fact they were extremely talented.
From then on, he was to become the driving force behind the Jackson 5. Katherine contented herself with designing their stage outfits.
Katherine has rarely sought the limelight. The few interviews she has given have always been motivated by a mother's instinct to protect. She angrily denied rumours Michael was gay, or that he had completely remodelled his face. "Only his nose," she insisted.
All of her children have spoken of her remarkable strength. "Besides my mother's beauty and her smarts, what I always wanted was her strength," her daughter Janet once said. Michael referred to her as his "life and soul".
There may yet be a custody battle over his children, Michael Joseph "Prince" Jackson Jr, 12, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, and Prince Michael II Jackson, 7. They are said to have asked to stay with their grandmother, to whom they are close.