Jennifer Hudson photo courtesy of Yahoo News
When I heard about the brutal slaying of Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother I was more than a little stunned. I was sitting at my computer doing what I do every night, writing, advertising, reading and responding. While checking my email, I noticed the headline in Yahoo News regarding the tragedy and a shiver ran through my body. The pit of my stomach felt like I had just taken a punch. The wind was literally knocked out of me.
One might ask, why such an extreme reaction to the suffering of someone you don't know personally and probably will never meet? Jennifer Hudson is at the pinnacle of her career. A career that began with a stint on American Idol (she was sent home, which turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to launch her career), followed by an Oscar worthy performance in the movie "Dreamgirls," and other mind blowing accomplishments too numerous to mention here. Yet with all of her successes, her celebrity status was not enough to shield her from the harsh reality of bad things happening to good people.
I don't know Jennifer Hudson. What I do know is what it feels like to lose a parent, a mother that you happen to be very close too. I know what it feels like to have a lifelong bond suddenly severed, and to experience the shock, sadness, and deep rooted loneliness that follows such an unwelcome event. I don't know Jennifer Hudson. But I do know what it means to be part of the human family.
So I make no excuses for my tears. I cried. Long and hard.
I cried for this woman who, in the midst of living her dream, is forced to encounter the unthinkable. I prayed and asked God to keep her mind, at a time when no one could blame her for losing it. I vented my anger at the possibility of a family member being at fault, because of yet another domestic squabble. I feared for the life of her nephew, an innocent 7 year old caught in the middle, now gone, like so many innocents before him. And for a moment, I stepped outside of myself, forgot about my own troubles--suddenly the bad day at work didn't seem so bad.
So my prayers are with Jennifer Hudson and her family. I wish her the peace of God that passes all understanding. And I pray that this horrific tragedy only serves to strengthen her faith in the same God of all comfort.
May God Bless and keep you, Jennifer Hudson: daughter, sister, and treasured member of the human family.
