When James, my husband, started leaving the house in a rush, I was sure something sinister was happening. He did this several times without a clear explanation. His strange behavior had me thinking he might be ch_eating, as he refused to tell me the real truth. When I finally found out the truth of what he was doing, I was shaken to my core!
For ten years of our marriage, I thought I knew everything about him. But MAN, was I mistaken! What I believed I knew about him was that he was driven and successful. He always seemed so tough, almost impenetrable
For all the time James and I had been together, I’d never seen him cry! But I never doubted his love for me; I could simply feel it in his actions, even if he didn’t say it often. That was until the last few months when things started to change.
My husband began acting differently. He was rarely home, spent no time with the children, and every time his phone rang, he would immediately leave.
When I confronted him about the calls and the rushed departures, he made a claim I couldn’t fathom. “It’s urgent office work, my love.” I didn’t believe him at all, mainly due to the next thing I am about to share.
What had me doubting him was the oddest part of all this. My husband would come back home and IMMEDIATELY throw his clothes in the washing machine! His clothes were washed even if he’d only worn them that day for roughly an hour!
After that, James would take a shower, no matter how briefly he’d been gone. It was perplexing and, frankly, worrisome! No matter how I tried to get him to tell me the truth about what he was actually doing, James would stick to the work excuse.
I once snuck to the washing machine during his shower time. Doing my own investigations I pulled out his clothes to smell them for women’s perfume. Instead, I was hit with a stench I couldn’t explain! His clothes smelled PUTRID!
That evening, after my husband left in a hurry once again, I made a decision that I couldn’t take it anymore and was fed up. I needed to know what was going on! I grabbed my coat and tracked him down, following him to his destination.
My heart pounded as I trailed his car through the winding streets. He finally came to a halt when he parked in front of an old, run-down building on the edge of town.
I even wondered whether it was safe to go in or not and hesitated for a while before summoning the courage to enter. But what I witnessed inside left me SPEECHLESS!
I saw him with a bunch of people and they were doing something I couldn’t even comprehend as I stood there with my mouth open. James, my stoic, seemingly indifferent husband, was there in an APRON! MY man was serving food to a group of homeless people!
He was smiling, chatting, and laughing, a side of him I had NEVER seen before! It was like watching a stranger, but one who looked so much like the man I married! As if sensing my presence, James looked up, and our eyes met.
He froze, his face a mask of fear and surprise. My husband then quickly made his way over to me, taking off his apron as he walked. “Lily, I can explain,” he said, his voice trembling slightly. “Please do,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
“What is all this? Why didn’t you tell me?” James took a deep breath, leading me to a quieter corner. “This is my project, the one I live for.” I watched him, waiting for the revelation that was about to change everything I thought I knew about my husband.
“I was born in poverty,” he began. “Sometimes, my family had nothing to eat. My single mom couldn’t feed me and my brother, so she gave us up for adoption,” James said. “We were taken in by a wealthy family who gave us everything we needed.”
I was shocked that I’d never known this about him. “But there was a catch. My new dad was strict; he believed in toughness and never showing vulnerability,” my husband continued. “I had to bury my soft side deep inside just to survive in that house because my adopted father forbade me from showing it.”
“He’s the one who taught me to be tough and determined, hence my work ethic.” Tears welled up in my eyes as I listened. This was a side of James I never knew, a past he had never shared. “So, you started this to show your true self?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“Yes,” he said, his eyes reflecting a mixture of pain and relief. “When I became successful, I realized I needed to find a way to express my soft side somewhere. I wanted to give back somehow.”
“I wanted to help people who are in the same position I once was.”
“So, I started this shelter, this kitchen, as my way of giving back and being true to who I am. It’s a part of me I’ve hidden for so long.” He explained how he started feeding poor and homeless people and sheltering them too.
What he did hit me hard, the weight of his hidden life pressing down on me. I understood now why he had been so secretive, why he NEEDED this outlet. It wasn’t just about work; it was about redemption and compassion.
I took his hand in mine. “James, you should have told me. We could have done this together.” He squeezed my hand, a tear slipping down his cheek. At that moment, I fell deeper in love with him, realizing that he was human too.
I saw a side of him that made me see that he was a multifaceted being. “I was scared, Lily. Scared of what you might think, scared of appearing weak.”
“You’re not weak, my darling,” I said firmly. “Showing your soft side, helping these people, that’s the STRONGEST thing you can do!”
Since then, our relationship changed. I finally understood why he was secretive and washed his clothes after every trip. I joined James in his mission. I started volunteering at the shelter and bringing the children along too.
They learned the value of kindness and humility, and at the same time saw their father in a new light! We grew closer than ever, united by his hidden passion and newfound openness. My husband showed me that true strength lies in being able to show your vulnerability.
I also learned through him that inner strength lay in giving WITHOUT expecting anything in return. The act of giving was a gift of its own. Our family became stronger, bound by love. We were united by his formerly hidden compassion, newfound openness, and a shared commitment to helping others.
Luckily for Lily, her husband wasn’t doing anything wrong on his random trips.
YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW ‘GREASE’ STAR STOCKARD CHANNING LOOKS AT 80
After all these years, I don’t think there’s ever been a Rizzo as charming or relatable as Stockard Channing.
Channing was a talented actress, and her singing in *Grease* was amazing. But now, at 80 years old, she looks almost unrecognizable.
The first movie I ever saw Stockard Channing in was called *The Big Bus*, and I thought it was really funny. Back then, I never could have guessed that she would go on to have such an amazing career.
Today, Stockard Channing is best known for playing Betty Rizzo in *Grease*. *Grease* is a 1978 musical romantic comedy film based on a musical from 1971 with the same name. Many people, including me, think Channing was the best Rizzo out of everyone who has ever played the role.
A lot of people also know Channing from the TV show *The West Wing*, where she played First Lady Abbey Bartlet. Her acting was praised, especially her natural chemistry with Martin Sheen, who played President Josiah Bartlet.
“It just worked,” she said in an interview with *Entertainment Weekly* in 2020.
“We had this chemistry from the beginning. I don’t know what it was, but we had it and it didn’t go away. It was a happy accident.”
Starring as Betty Rizzo
Let’s take a closer look at the highlight of Stockard Channing’s career. To be honest, she hasn’t been in any major movies since Grease, even though she has kept acting in films and on Broadway.
Channing, who has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards and seven Tony Awards, seems completely okay with being best known for playing the “bad girl” Betty Rizzo, one of the Pink Ladies in Grease.
But is that really all there is to her story?
Back in 1973, Channing had a small breakthrough when she starred in the TV movie The Girl Most Likely to…. It was a dark comedy about revenge.
“A lot of people talk about the G-word [Grease] and all of that, but back in the day, I had just as many people stop me on the street because of that one movie,” she said. “Because it’s about revenge, and people would sit in their living rooms and think, ‘Oh, I’m the only person watching this’ or ‘this person understands me.’ I’m not kidding. It was a million years ago, and then it was the highest-rated movie of the week. Revenge always works.”
Channing says she has only watched Grease twice.
“I used to be grumpy about Grease because I thought it was a kids’ movie or something. But now it’s kind of amazing. I’m very proud of it,” she told The Times in 2019.
The actress, who was born in Manhattan, was 33 years old when she played Rizzo, and playing a high school teenager wasn’t easy for her.
“I was much older than Rizzo in real life, but I couldn’t think about that. I had to imagine what I felt like when I was her age, or even younger. I thought about the complexity of being a teenager, with all the hormones, feelings, and issues around sexuality. Being older helped me show Rizzo’s sense of isolation,” Channing told Broadway World.
Channing, who got interested in acting at a young age, was very excited when she was offered the role of Rizzo. Her performance made her a big star in the late 1970s. She even won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress. However, the actress from New York found it hard to get the same kind of success after Grease.
Channing was given two of her own sitcoms, Stockard Channing in Just Friends (1979) and The Stockard Channing Show (1980), but neither of them did well, and her career slowed down.
But Channing, with her Elizabeth Taylor-like looks and calm confidence, didn’t give up. She kept acting in many highly-praised movies and stage plays. Her most recent big-screen appearance was in the movie Angry Neighbors, which premiered in 2022.
Moving to London
In recent years, Stockard Channing has been involved in theater productions in London, where she now lives. She used to live in Maine with her partner of 25 years, but she moved to England in 2019.
“Living on my own here during the pandemic, I was sort of going through the same experience as everyone else in the country,” she told The Times.
Keeping a Low Profile
On a personal level, Stockard Channing has kept a low profile. The Grease star, who has always been known for being “reckless” and restless, has no children.
She has been married and divorced four times. Nowadays, she finds comfort in her dog, who has been her constant companion for many years.
Stockard Channing and Plastic Surgery
In recent years, Channing has also gotten attention for her changing appearance. It all started in 2017 when she was interviewed on Lorraine, a British breakfast TV show.
Here’s the article rewritten in simple language:
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### Reactions to Channing’s Appearance
Channing was on the show to talk about her career and the roles she’s played, but many viewers were more focused on how different the *Grease* star looked. Many people were surprised by how much she had changed, leading to lots of talk on Twitter and articles in the tabloids.
“Oh my god, what has Rizzo done to herself?” one viewer wrote, while another said, “Shocked at how Stockard Channing looked on *Lorraine*. Why do they mess with plastic surgeons?”
In an article from the *Daily Mail*, a surgeon suggested that Channing might have used botox. However, others defended Channing. After all, we all get older, and it’s normal for an 80-year-old woman’s appearance to change over time.
To me, Channing still has that “Rizzo” personality – cool and confident! In an interview with *Out* magazine in 2011, she said she does “everything I f—ing can” to stay in shape.
“You get to a certain age, and you start playing a lot of mothers. Maybe if I had children, I’d feel differently, but I really hate being compared to these guys’ memories of their mothers, which, trust me, aren’t so great,” she laughed and added:
“Or maybe they watched a lot of *The Golden Girls*, you know? And while I’m thankful for *The Golden Girls*, they don’t spend time with women my age now, and I’d like to think the world has changed since then.”
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