Yesterday I caught a little of the 1962 movie Jimmy Stewart movie, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. Not my favorite Stewart picture but I haven’t seen it in years and it isn’t shown too often so I thought I’d watch a bit of it. One of the featured performers was a buxom, blonde European starlet, Valerie Varda, of a type pretty popular at the time viz. Anita Ekberg, Elke Sommer, the Gabor sisters, etc. I was curious about what had become of her so I did a little research.
After doing a little television and a couple of completely forgettable movies she married a prominent LA attorney and retired from show biz. Fast forward twenty-five years. Her 19 year old son, André, died of a brain tumor in 1995. On the first anniversary of their son’s death her husband killed himself.
Rather than succumbing to grief and inspired by people she’d met while taking care of her son, she founded, in her son’s honor, the River of Life Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a mission of providing financial support for single parents or single caregivers caring for a child stricken with a life-threatening disease.
Life happens to us, sometimes taking us down strange and unexpected paths.
