The weather is fabulous, sunshining and not a cloud in the sky. A soft breeze is blowing but not enough to ruin breakfast. Gene, my dad, made breakfast this morning: blueberry pankcakes, scrambled eggs, waffles with strawberries and cheese omlets. He woke up at 5:30 to start and woke my Mom, Gilda, and I up at 8. The sun was shining through my curtains onto his hair and gave it a red tint and his baby blues sparkled as he smiled in my face. The table was set out in the back of our villa and a bouquet of red roses were on the table. It's September 18th, my parents wedding aniversary. We are spending three weeks in a small city in the South of France. We got in yesterday, and sat outside on a hill watching the sunset. It was beautiful my parents sat in front of me holding hands. My mom's head rested on my Dad's shoulder and they laid back laughing and kissing. I couldn't help but smile. They looked so beautiful and my Mom looked so strong and healthy and radiant. You see, 12 y!
ears ago when I was 2 1/2 my mother was in fierce battle. She had Ovarian Cancer. On May 20th the doctors told us she wasn't going to make for much longer than a couple of hours, but as my Mom likes to do she got the last laugh. 6 months later the doctors told her how amazed they were at her recovery now, she is cancer free and has been for 12 years! Everyday she celebrates life. I couldn't imagine being with out her. She taught me so much and she gotten my career going. She has a comedy show on NBC that she writes and directs as well as stars in. Plus she is a big time actress and director in major motion pictures. She got me my first job last summer working on this new show called Tickled, starring Suzanne Somers. It's number 2 next to my Mom's show. Plus she has taught me so much about life and war. She is a great role model to me and her millions of fans. Anyway after breakfast we are to the theatre and what the rehearsals of a play that my Mom and Dad wrote for their fr!
iends to direct. My Dad just surprised my Mom with a beautiful diamond ring and there is a beautiful ray on sunshining on my Mom's face. She looks beautiful and in love, in life.
You can feel the electricity in the air. The likes of Jimmy Fallon, Ana Gasteyer, and Maya Rudolph are bustling around the studio. It is the last episode of the 2001-2002 season of SNL, and the stakes are high. Finally, amidst the hustle and bustle, I find myself standing in front of a door that reads "G. Radner" The door opens, and I almost trip over a tiny, precocious yorkshire terrior. "Sparkle!' a raspy, midwestern voice yells, "You get your little doggie butt over here!" Gilda rises from her chair, and you are struck by her beauty:Gilda looks older, wiser, and more peaceful, with a short, trendy bob, slender figure, and those warm brown eyes. "I apologize," she giggles as she gestures for me to come in."Sparkle loves to greet everybody." The dressing room is all makeup and costumes: the classic Emily Litella dress as well as that crazy wig for Roseanne Roseannadanna. She grabs a chair for me before she continues applying her mascara. "No matter how many time!
s I do this," she tells me, "I always have to hear Sparkle's pep talk." She pauses to pick up her beloved dog, and I swear I see a smile come across Sparkle's face. We continue to chat, and Gilda gets distracted for a second, resulting in a black streak of mascara from the bottom of her right eye down to the tip of her little nose. Her eyes twinkle, and we both lose it. We laugh until we cry. "Oh,no!" she gasps, "I'm not even dressed yet!" Gilda grabs her Emily Litella dress, and in a flourish runs to change. When she returns, glasses and all, she guides me out of her dressing room to the area just backstage. I can hear the enthusiastic audience, and the atmosphere is charged with electricity. She grabs my hand, and I whisper "Bunny, Bunny" in her ear. Gilda squeezes my hand and kisses me on the cheek. I hear "Ladies and Gentleman...Gilda Radner!!" In a flash she is onstage, and the audience goes wild. After basking in the applause Emily Litella starts the show. !
Gilda is in her element and she seems to glow like an angel. I can only watch in awe. I love you, Gilda!
I will never forget when I first met the Wilders. I was a blooming young actress and had just moved to Los Angeles. I was far away from my family in Detroit, and loneliness had started to kick in. Gilda, Gene, and their seven-year-old daughter, Lily Eugenia, came to my door and brought flowers for my house as well as some of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I had ever tasted. I knew from that point on that I had a warm home away from home.That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship with the Wilder family, especially Gilda. I had always admired Gilda's work, and it is true that she is one of the wisest women in the world. She would often invite me over for dinner, and I would always leave with my stomach aching: not just from eating too much, but from laughing soooo hard at Gilda's antics. Sometimes she would call and we would talk for hours about anything and everything. Or somedays we would go out to coffee, just to sit and watch people. She helped me fine-tune my ability to create characters, and she was the one who helped me dive into my first major movie role. Gilda was just like a second mother to me, yet she encouraged me to have as much fun as I could and enjoy life to the fullest. I would often look after her daughter, Lily, if she and Gene had to be out of town. Lily, though she was adopted, was the spitting image of her mother, both in looks and in spirit. Her big brown eyes had the same mischievious twinkle and her comic timing was immaculate, especially for a girl of seven. She always ended up teaching me something. Gene and Gilda made a lonely girl feel at home in a scary, big world. I don't know how to repay her. The only thing I can give is love and happiness.
