A rich man and an older woman are linked by a strange twist of fate, which they discover after four years of living under the same roof.
The heavy pattering rain on the window and the thunderous boom playing in the sky distracted Dylan, who was busy on his laptop. In a rage, he marched to the living room window to close the curtains when he noticed something odd.
A woman stood drenched and shivering in the pouring rain, staring at his house. Even in the darkness of the evening, he could make out her frail figure, trembling from the cold outside.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash
“Lyra, honey!” he called out to his wife. “Did you call someone home?”
“No, I didn’t, Dylan,” she replied, joining him at the window. “Who’s there?”
“Do we know her?” he asked. “That woman out there… she’s just standing in the rain.”
Lyra looked out the window and shook her head. “I don’t know… she seems old. Let’s ask her if she needs any help.”
So Dylan and Lyra went downstairs and outside, carrying an extra umbrella and blanket for the older woman.
As soon as the older woman saw them, Dylan noticed a panic in her eyes.
A mother loves her child no matter what.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” asked Dylan, sheltering her under the spare umbrella. “Can we help you with something?”
“Oh well, I don’t know…” she said. “I—I don’t have a place to live here. I’m new in town and have no idea where to go…”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash
The woman didn’t have any luggage, which confused Dylan and Lyra. She could be faking it all, they thought. And they had two kids at home. They didn’t want to risk their safety by letting a stranger in, but something about the woman told Dylan she wasn’t a threat.
“Do you have any family we could contact, ma’am?” asked Lyra. “We could call the police.”
“Oh no, no,” she cried out. “I don’t have a family… I came here looking for a job, children… I don’t know why I—I just stopped here. I should leave…”
“It’s alright!” Dylan stopped her. “Come on in. You’ll get sick out in the cold. Have some tea with us.”
So Dylan and Lyra brought her inside. Lyra gave her some of her mother’s old clothes, and after the older woman had dried up and changed, they all had tea together.
“I’m Marlene,” the old woman told Lyra and Dylan, who had discussed hiring her as a maid back in the kitchen. She seemed fine, and Lyra needed help with the house chores.
“Thank you for the tea,” said Marlene. “I really needed it.”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash
“So you said you came here looking for work?” asked Lyra. “Would you like to work for us? We have two kids who are asleep right now. You could meet them in the morning, and I need help with the house.”
“Really?” asked Marlene. “Would you really hire me?”
“Well, why not?” Dylan said. “So long as you’re fine with it. We’ll also need your information… any ID… We can’t just keep anyone home.”
“Oh, OK,” Marlene said. “But I would need help with that. I was robbed right after leaving the station, so I’d need a laptop or something… I was wise enough to save digital copies.”
“Perfect!” smiled Dylan. “You can rest in the guest bedroom tonight, Marlene…”
That was four years ago. Marlene started working as a maid at Dylan and Lyra’s house four years ago after Dylan sheltered her from the rain, but she quickly became like family to them. Their children, Aaron and Lisa, affectionately called her “Ganma Marlene,” and the entire family adored her.
But on her birthday that year, everything changed. Dylan and Lyra planned a lavish celebration for Marlene and invited everyone they knew.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
Marlene blew out the candles, had the most lovely dinner with her family, and received tons of precious gifts.
After everyone left, she was busy unwrapping the gifts with Aaron and Lisa. Meanwhile, Dylan went to her room to retrieve something and noticed her laptop was left on.
He was about to close it when a message on her social profile on Facebook caught his attention.
“Happy birthday, dearest Marlene! I hope you’re having the best days of your life now that you’ve found your son. Your little boy, he must love you so much!”
Dylan felt like his heart had dropped to the floor. 28 years ago, he was heartlessly abandoned by his mother on the doorstep of a shelter when he was just a little boy of three. She never came looking for her, and he could never find her. He knew nothing about her.
Shocked, Dylan walked into the living room and saw Marlene smiling and playing with her children. He was disgusted and enraged.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
“Marlene!” he cried. “Why did you do that? Just why?”
Marlene turned around and saw Dylan crying.
“Honey,” said Lyra, concerned. “What’s the matter? Why are you crying?”
“I’d like to know the truth, Marlene. Or should I call you ‘mom?'”
“What?” gasped Lyra. “Mom?”
Marlene’s eyes welled up. “I’m sorry, Dylan,” she said. “I didn’t want to deceive you all these years. I am sorry.”
“What else have you lied about, huh?” he yelled. “Tell me, goddammit! Why did you do it? Why did you come here and hurt me again?”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
“Dylan…” whispered Marlene. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice. You were a three-year-old boy… you needed a loving home, and I would never have been able to give you that. I was diagnosed with cancer, and I never thought I’d live through it, Dylan. So I had to let you go. I came to take you when my cancer went into remission, but it was too late.
“A wealthy family had taken you in, and they said you were happy. I was happy for you, Dylan, so I stayed away and watched you from afar all these years. Look at you; you are rich and successful today. It’s due to their upbringing. I’m so thankful to them…and I’m sorry. I don’t know why I couldn’t hold myself back when you took me in four years ago… I just couldn’t… I was scared to tell you the truth… I’m sorry…”
“OUT!” yelled Dylan. “Don’t you think you’re too mean to deserve such kindness? You can’t just walk into my life and then walk out. Just leave!”
“Dylan, honey,” said Lyra. “Let’s talk about it—”
“It’s OK, Lyra,” Marlene said in tears. “I deserve this. I shouldn’t have kept you all in the dark. I am sorry.”
And Marlene left Dylan’s house that evening. The kids asked Lyra and Dylan why Ganma Darlene left, and all Dylan told them was, “Because she wasn’t your grandmother! She was a liar!”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
A week later, Dylan regretted saying that. He found out that Marlene was not the biological mother who had abandoned him.
Dylan chanced upon Marlene’s Facebook profile on the laptop because she hadn’t logged out, and he read another message her friend Linda had left her.
“You should tell him the truth, Marlene. How devastated will he be to learn that he has lost his mother twice? He deserves to know that his mother abandoned him in a park and that you took him in. He will love you, Marlene. He really will…”
Dylan couldn’t believe what he had read. He went through her entire profile in tears, reading Linda’s messages, and guess what? He found out Marlene had been living only a few blocks away from him.
Dylan rushed to her home, and as soon as she answered the door, he cried his heart out and hugged her.
“Mom,” he sobbed. “I love you! I’m so sorry, Mom… I am just so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me you’re not my biological mother? You… you saved me!”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
“How would it matter, Dylan?” she asked, hugging him back. “I loved you like my son, and it pained me when I left you. I did abandon you… I was no different from your mother, except I left you because I loved you.”
“You’re coming home,” he said. “That’s all I want. I love you.”
What can we learn from this story?
- A mother loves her child no matter what. The fact that Dylan wasn’t Marlene’s blood didn’t matter to her because, at her heart, she was a mother who just wanted to give her son all the love she could.
- Making a sacrifice is never easy, but it is sometimes the only way out. Marlene had let Dylan go because she loved him enough to put his interests above hers.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
The Real Reason Why We Haven’t Seen Lacey Chabert Lately
Actress Lacey Chabert, known for her roles in Party of Five and Mean Girls, is no longer as young as she once was.
At the height of her Mean Girls fame, she seemed to be destined for stardom, but co-star Rachel McAdams went on to become the movie’s Hollywood favorite, starring in movies including The Notebook, Spotlight, and Wedding Crashers.
Even Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried, who costarred in Mean Girls, were able to hold onto their fame; Lohan was merely Lindsay Lohan, while Seyfried was given well-regarded parts.
But what has Lacey Chabert been doing with her time since then? Actually, she’s found her true calling somewhere else.
Lacey Chabert has achieved success over the years in this way.
A shift in emphasis
Julia Mimi Bella, a daughter, was born to Lacey Chabert as her first child in September 2016.
According to E! News, the actress went into full nesting mode in preparation for her daughter’s arrival. She set up the nursery and even spoke with her pet friend, a chihuahua named Kitty, during a pre-interview.
Chabert was obviously happy to welcome her daughter Julia, but it’s possible that motherhood changed her priorities.
This was evident when Chabert discussed the challenges of balancing her new career path with her life as a working mother in the entertainment world in the fall and winter of 2018. Yes, this was during the press tour for her 16th Hallmark movie.
“If you had told me two years ago that this is what my career would look like today, I think I would have been surprised, but it’s such a great fit for who I am and where I am in my life right now,” Chabert said in an interview with the Clarion Ledger in November 2018.
She’ll never be separated from Gretchen Wieners.
The iconic Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls, portrayed by Chabert, is credited with coining the catchphrase “that’s so fetch.” Perhaps she is still thought of by Hollywood as the dimwitted teenager whose father invented the Toaster Strudel?
It’s easy to get typecast in Hollywood, after all—just look at the lovable romantic actress Jennifer Aniston or the eternally quirky Helena Bonham Carter.
When it comes to her more popular work, Chabert’s career identity is still entirely contained in a single film. Ten years after the Mean Girls film’s debut, Chabert told Entertainment Weekly in 2014, “People tweet me hundreds of times, if not thousands of times [with] lines from the movie.”
To be fair, though, she finds the association unsettling. In fact, if a sequel were ever created, Chabert told Star in December 2018 that she “would love to be a part of it.” Give Tina Fey a call now!
The Hallmark movies with Lacey Chabert in them
Lacey Chabert had starred in more than 20 Hallmark Channel shows as of the time of writing.
That’s a lot of productions for any channel, much less one that specializes in the campy, saccharine sweet fare that any mother on earth could not resist. However, Hallmark isn’t exactly the place to go if you’re searching for an Oscar nomination or the next big blockbuster sensation.
Other well-known actors who have appeared in Hallmark movies include Dean Cain, Danica McKellar, and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
When was the last time you saw them in an A-list film? Nevertheless, Chabert is obviously happy with her new network and the endearing series it airs—which, in an Entertainment Weekly interview, she described as “like comfort food.”
Her prolific output of holiday-themed content for Hallmark is also no coincidence.”Christmas is my favorite holiday. I’m obsessed with it, as everyone who knows me will attest,” Chabert told the Clarion Ledger.”I wish it lasted for more than just one month each year. It follows that my enjoyment of creating Christmas movies is only natural.
Maybe Lacey Chabert’s convictions prevented her from seeing more
In Tinseltown circles, there’s a notion that success doesn’t always follow from a strong Christian faith (Mel Gibson and Candace Cameron Bure are two examples).
The Hercules TV series actor Kevin Sorbo stated to CNS News in 2014, “I think you get attacked in Hollywood if you’re a conservative and a Christian.”That same year, Chabert starred in the film Christian Mingle, which got just three “rotten” reviews overall from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
Is it possible that Chabert’s lack of success in Hollywood is a result of her public confession of her religious beliefs?
Chabert said, “You know, my faith has always been the center of my life, and I have no shame about saying that,” in an exclusive interview with Christian Mingle.
She also added, “I think it’s beautiful that she comes to a point where her faith is something that’s very personal and alive for her, and I think it’s a nice message,” as an explanation for her interest to the movie character.
Chabert added that she wouldn’t consider some movie roles due to the way a character’s faith is shown in the piece.
The money from Lacey Chabert’s flicks hasn’t been great.
According to Forbes, A-list stars Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson earned $46 million and $25 million, respectively, in 2016. Their films’ success has made them profitable.
Sadly, Chabert’s movies don’t live up to the hype, with the exception of Mean Girls and a few minor hits. It is possible that casting directors are reluctant to offer a big-budget film role to an actor who hasn’t been in one for more than ten years.
For the ordinary person, Chabert’s estimated net worth of $4 million is nothing to laugh at, but in comparison to some of her friends, it is noticeably less impressive.
Chabert’s biggest project was really the 2003 slapstick comedy about parenthood, Daddy Day Care, starring Eddie Murphy. The movie was not well received.
The Numbers claims that the film brought in over $104 million domestically, but is there any evidence linking Chabert to it? Probably not.
Chabert’s success has waned after Mean Girls gained popularity a year later and earned over $86 million domestically in 2004. Lawrence, on the other hand, made nearly $281 million at the box office with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.
How is Lacey Chabert doing at Family Guy?
For an actress, working with Chabert might not be the easiest. Due to contractual issues, Mila Kunis replaced her as the original pick to play Meg Gryphon in the wildly successful Family Guy television series, as reported by The Huffington Post.
Despite the fact that Seth MacFarlane, the show’s creator, and the actress have both responded with greater tact, there are rumors that Chabert and the show had a falling out.
According to Chabert, “I actually left the show of my own accord,” as reported by GameSpy (via The Huffington Post). and only because Party of Five was what I was doing at the time while I was in school. However, I find the show entertaining and have no animosity toward [Kunis]. I believe she is an excellent actress.According to MacFarlane, no one could “even remember” why Chabert left, as he told IGN.”It was nothing at all; there was no tension at all.””[Kunis] was in many ways, I thought, almost more right for the character,” he continued.
Everything looks okay, so why is there an overt Family Guy episode clip? We’ll let you to decide.
At heart, Lacey Chabert is a girl from a little town.
The pastor of Purvis, Mississippi, and uncle of Lacey Chabert, despite her success with Party of Five and Mean Girls, told the Clarion Ledger that “none of this movie stuff has gone to her head.”Chabert told the newspaper that she feels the same way and tries to see her “extended family” who is still in Purvis, where she grew up till she was seven years old.
“I am incredibly happy to come from Purvis. I’m grateful for the morals that were taught to me there,” she continued.”I adore the people and am grateful for all of their help over the years.”
It makes natural to think that Chabert would decline travel-intensive professions so she could be close to her family. In reference to those principles from her little village that she mentioned? That could have also affected her choice of employment.
She desires to explore new business ventures.
While it’s clear that Lacey Chabert feels at ease in front of the camera, she has established professional objectives that will require her to spend more time out of the spotlight as she pursues them.
Chabert disclosed that she works behind the scenes at the Hallmark Channel in addition to acting as the network’s unofficial face in an interview with the Clarion Ledger.
“I’m more motivated than ever,” Chabert said to the newspaper in reference to her new role as executive producer. “I want to share so many experiences, and I want to learn more about many facets of the industry. My weakness is that I adore narrating stories. And I recall observing and taking in all that goes into producing a show while working on the Party of Five set. And at some point, I’d like to concentrate on that professionally.
Based on her IMDb biography, Chabert seemed to have succeeded at this, as seen by her seven producer credits on Hallmark movies from 2016 to 2020.
In addition, she not only starred in all seven of those Hallmark movies that she isn’t producing, but also in every one of those shows. Was she bundled up by Hollywood and sent to Hallmark?
Lacey Chabert is making things work on her terms.
Even though Chabert operated for years without drawing much attention from the public, it seems like she carved up a pretty successful career for herself.
She has been chosen for a number of voice roles, such as those in The Wild Thornberrys! Menace of Mecha Mutt and Scooby Doo. Just going down that route may get her back on the A-List like Anna Kendrick did in Trolls or Reese Witherspoon did in Sing, or it could just keep her relevant by bringing in some younger fans.
However, Chabert may be beginning to adopt a mompreneurship style similar to that of Jessica Alba. During her late-2018 press trip, Chabert incessantly advertised Tyson Meal Kits, which she personally supports.
These can be seen here and here as examples. She also told Good Housekeeping that the company’s current photographic style—hint: quick—goes well with Hallmark’s.
Regarding Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe, which debuted in 2018, Chabert told Good Housekeeping, “This movie was shot in 15 days, as were most Hallmark movies.”
She went on, “Being a hands-on mom and working is challenging, but I’m grateful to work at a place that makes it easier for me,” before once more endorsing Tyson Meal Kits, which she characterized as “quicker and stress free.”
These days, someone knows where her bread is buttered, and it’s not the massive Hollywood studio system.
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