I found this wonderful article and had a strong desire to share it with you. -Joyce
Originally posted: October 27, 2008
by Mark Caro
www.chicagotribune.comJennifer Hudson...what is there to say?
When I first wrote about Jennifer Hudson almost two years ago, I’d accompanied her on a trip back to her old high school, and we had a quick follow-up phone interview scheduled for an early evening when my wife was away, and I was trying to get my two young girls to bed.
I thought I was in the clear, but shortly after I answered the phone in the home office, my then-4-year-old daughter Ruthie ambled in and insistently asked who it was. I quickly told Ruthie it was Jennifer, the young woman I’d told her about who grew up in Chicago, was a wonderful singer and now was starring in a big movie.
Ruthie insisted on talking to her.
In almost all cases I would have shooed her to bed, but my instinct told me this was OK. Ruthie got on the phone and asked Jennifer where she was, what she was doing, the usual drill, and after a minute or so of the two of them gabbing, I had her say goodbye and asked her to return to bed.
“She’s so precious!” Jennifer exclaimed, and she cheerfully remembered the conversation a few months later when I shadowed her on the days leading up to her Oscar victory.
I’ve been thinking about these interactions as the horrific news about Hudson’s family has developed over the past few days. Losing your mother, brother and nephew would be tragic no matter whether you’re a loving person or the world’s biggest S.O.B.
But for what it’s worth, Hudson comes across as a real sweetheart, an impression confirmed by those close to her and what I observed over a generous amount of time she let me spend with her. She was unfailingly warm, spontaneous and good-humored, and you could tell by the way she talked about her family and interacted with them that she had a happy, supportive home life.
You also could tell from her family members that the affection was mutual. I still remember Julia, the mother of 7-year-old Julian King, watching Jennifer gleefully chatting with reporters and fans in the basement of the South Side church where the Oscar nominee was about to sing in an “Evening of Praise” just days before she collected her Oscar. “She’s the same Jennifer,” Julia, a spirited personality in her own right, said with an older sister’s pride.
Family members and friends said Jennifer doted on young Julian, which isn’t at all surprising. She exuded such joy and childlike enthusiasm that of course she related to kids. Her actress friend Felicia Fields told me that Julian was Jennifer’s “heart.”
If you think these musings are leading up to some profound point, sorry, they’re not. It’ll take a Higher Power than I to make sense of a mom, a son and a 7-year-old boy being gunned down.
That Hudson’s family is grounded in faith may help at some point, but now is not the time to look for consolation. Sometimes the world is just overwhelmingly sad and cruel, and all you can say is, “I’m sorry.”