Actress Kristin Chenoweth has been vocal about being raised by adoptive parents and the joyful childhood she had, calling adoption “a full-circle blessing.” This week on Instagram, she penned a touching tribute to her birth mother and announced her death.
“The angel that brought me into this world has passed,” wrote Chenoweth. “Her name is Lynn. Aka Mamalynn. The ten plus years I knew her were magic. So many things became clear to me about myself when I met her and came to really know her. Those of us who knew her loved her light. Her love of music and all things artistic. An artist herself! The mother of beautiful Jennifer and darling Chris. Man she loved her kids!”
Chenoweth continued, “In her belly, I became fans of Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall, Jimi Hendrix, and, of course, Billy Ethridge – my bio dad. The two of them gave me the innate artistic ability I have today.”
Ethridge was a musician and spent time as the bassist for ZZ Top.
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In her tribute to her birth mother, Chenoweth also explained that “Mamalynn prayed for me every year on my birthday, hoping I was having the most perfect life, which of course, I was. I snuck away and prayed for her too, wishing that someday I would be allowed to tell her ‘thank you.’ Which I did on 12/12/12. A beautiful day!”
Chenoweth shared that when she first met her birth mother that day, Mamalynn asked Chenoweth for her forgiveness. She said she told her in response, “Forgive you? You gave me life! My parents Junie and Jared gave me a life, the chance at a life. But you gave me life.”
In 2015, Chenoweth had a message for others who had been adopted. She said, “… I encourage other adoptees to remember what blessed lives we have. We weren’t abandoned; we were chosen. We were given a chance. I’m not saying it’s not hard or that it’s easy for people to understand. But it really isn’t for the world to understand; it’s for the people who are involved.”
She thanked her birth mother for “loving me enough to make a huge sacrifice.”
