The pain of losing a parent is something that cannot be compared. Sandra Bullock lost both her parents, and her account of coping with the grief is relatable for many of us.
Sandra Bullock may be an A-list actress with a career that doesn't seem to be slowing down and a huge fan following, but there is one thing that not even being a celebrity can save her from — the death of her parents. Especially since she's lost both of them. And like most people who lost a parent, she was truly devastated by it.
Her mother, Helga Meyer, was a German Opera singer and a strict mom — one whose advice "profoundly" shaped the actress in the years to come. “Before my mom passed away, we had a moment at her bedside where I was shut down and trying not to cry, and she simply said, ‘Don’t be like me,’” recalled the Miss Congeniality star to People. “In that moment a lot of our lifetime together had been explained. She didn’t want me to go through life shut down, afraid of feeling. Well, life has made sure I feel everything now, and I’m not ashamed to admit it anymore.”
She also revealed that it was her mother who raised her "not to depend on a man for anything," according to Express UK, during the actress' divorce while she was adopting her son Louis. "I may have taken that to extremes."
Now that she's also raising a daughter of her own, Laila, the actress said, “If Laila gave me what I gave, I’ll know it was all Helga B.’s doing and she is laughing her ass off. I am fully prepared for that ride.”
But while her mother may have passed away in 2000 to cancer, Sandra was still reeling from her loss. "It took me two years to accept that she's not here. It doesn't get easier, it just gets harder. But it's a good thing because I feel it and I value it and I am not rushing through life," she said, according to Sify. And she even revealed that she found it easier to deal with her grief by using her status to help other women who were suffering from the same illness. "I love to do things that continue what she started, whether it's making candles or creating a place for women going through chemotherapy or to spend time with their families," she said.
And then, the mother of two had to face the death of her 93-year-old father John Bullock in 2018. According to Us Weekly, she was "in bathtubs crying" as she lost him and then her two dogs weeks apart. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna be fine,’” the Ocean’s 8 actress, 54, said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “And then a week later, I’m in bathtubs crying and the kids are like, ‘Is Mommy OK?’ Everyone was like, ‘Just leave Mommy in the bathtub. She’s gonna be fine.’ So, you know what? It’s life. But, you know, when you lose your little rides-or-die, it makes things different.”
In October 2018, while attending the 25th ELLE Women in Hollywood celebration, the actress revealed the tragedy that had occurred. “It’s been a crappy few weeks,” she told the crowd, according to the news publication. “My dad died, both of my dogs died.”
Going into detail about the rough couple of months she had been facing, she opened up to talk show host Ellen Degeneres. “Life, I realized, happens whether you schedule it or not,” the actress said. “That just blew my mind this year. My dad died, and then while my dad was failing, we get a call from the nanny … that our dog Ruby, the two-legger, had a stroke. And I’m like, ‘What, what?’ I was like, ‘Just put her on life support. Do something.’ And they go, ‘We can’t. She’s suffering.’ So I was like, ‘OK, there’s a reason for this. Dad’s settled. We fly home.'"
“Days later, ‘You’re dad’s not doing well,’” she continued. “The nanny comes into the room. She’s got a look on her face. ... She’s like, ‘I need to speak to you in the bedroom.’ And I was like, ‘OK.’ And she goes, ‘Your other dog has a heart tumor, and she’s going to die in three days.'"
With so many losses hitting her, it only goes to show just how strong she is that she managed to stand tall through it all.
References:
https://people.com/movies/sandra-bullock-shares-her-late-mom-helga-b-s-life-changing-advice/
