As Mother's Day Approaches: Women to admire, part 2

"A lot of my life happened in great, wonderful bursts of good fortune, and then I would race to be worthy of it." Julie Andrews

My breath stopped for just a moment as I read the words "...race to be worthy of it."

They're such revealing words, especially to those who've read about, or who've learned first hand, the lessons of life when you're a child of alcoholics. The sentiment behind these words is achingly familiar, achingly despondent.

The feeling of being unworthy.

Julie Andrews was both blessed and cursed by her parents...aren't we all? They were alcoholics, which left her the "curse" of feeling unworthy, but they were also performers which "blessed" Andrews with the opportunity to experience life on the stage, and performing much earlier than most actors.

Seemingly showered with good fortune from the days of Mary Poppins until her recent throat surgery, she serves as a stellar role model of a woman who takes life as it comes, rolls with the punches, doesn't gloat when times are great, doesn't whine when life is lousy. Plus, something many don't know...in this day of "the famous" adopting children from "less fortunate" countries...Andrews and her husband adopted two children from Vietnam many decades ago. (So, Angelina and Madonna, neither of you were the trendsetter for this activity)

With her graceful but always good-humored persona, the goody-two-shoes burden of her Mary Poppins and Sound of Music rolls spiced up with her blatant non-virgin rolls in The Americanization of Emily (trust me, it's a good one if you haven't seen it), Ten, and Victor/Victoria, she serves as one of my favorite role models.

When today's "famous stars" are often under 30 years old, their life experiences can seem shallow, regardless of how often their photos are splashed across our TV screens and magazine covers. With women like Julie Andrews, learning more about their life stories can surely only enrich our own.