Civil Rights - "...The God that I believe in is a god of love, not fear," Osmond, who is a practicing Mormon, told Diane Sawyer. As for same-sex marriage, Osmond noted, "I believe in [my daughter's] civil rights, as a mother. I think that my daughter deserves everything that she desires in life. She's a good girl. She's a wonderful child." She then added, "I don't think God made one color flower. I think He made many." Osmond, 53, has spoken out in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in previous years, usually citing Jessica's role in that mindset. "I think everybody should have the right to share homes and finances with somebody that they care about," she told KOST 103.5 Los Angeles in 2009. "You know on those types of things I'm very supportive. When it comes to marriage...I think that civil rights need to be for all." Meanwhile, Osmond's brother Alan reportedly hosted a "pro-family" rally at the Utah State Capitol earlier this week, aimed at "benefitting the protection of marriage" from gay and lesbian Americans, according to Towleroad..." - Huffington Post (READ MORE)
Son Michael - "...I thought someone had run a knife into my heart,' writes the singer. Michael was an adventuresome child,' she recalls fondly. 'It was impossible for anyone in the family to stay upset or angry if he was around.' When Michael was 13, a woman rang the family's doorbell and revealed herself as his birth mother. 'We all sat and talked for over an hour,' says Maria. 'Michael was intrigued and excited.' But his biological mother disappeared after that, which Marie says 'seemed to confuse him at an age when he needed the most stability.' The star is also candid about her son's prolonged battle with drug addiction, which started at the age of 12. Marie blames herself and her own depression in her second marriage for his struggles, claiming that 'Michael sensed my hopelessness. It's too much pressure for a child to worry about his mother's happiness.' Things looked up in 2009 when Michael enrolled at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. 'Michael had made a promise that if I even suspected him of doing drugs I could kick him out the house,' she recalls. 'It was something we never had to contemplate because my son made good on his promise...thousands of times' in her mind. 'My one consolation is that I never end a conversation with my children without saying "I love you,"' she says. 'It was the last thing I said to my son.' Since his passing, Marie says 'not a day goes by that Michael isn't my first thought in the morning and my last before I fall asleep..." - Daily Mail, 27 March 2013 (READ MORE)
Suicidal Impulses - "...The day before his death, Michael spoke with his mom about how he was feeling lonely and isolated. "It was the first time I heard him start to cry and say he was alone," Marie says. "That he had no friends. That he felt despair." Watch Marie talk about her last phone conversation with her son. Concerned, Marie tried to help Michael from afar. "I told him: "Mike, I'm going to be there Monday, and it's going to be okay,'" she says. "But depression doesn't wait till Monday." In his suicide note, Marie says Michael wrote that he knew that morning would be the last time he would get up, brush his teeth, eat breakfast, make his bed and get dressed. "He had made that decision, I guess," Marie says. "He loved his family, but...the pain was too intense....When I had postpartum [depression], I remember vividly driving that car and thinking...how people would be better off without me," Marie says. "I really believed that." But something stopped Marie from acting on any suicidal impulses. "It was my age that told me: 'Marie, that's crazy,'" she says. "Children don't have that kind of age behind them...When they're 18, everything [seems] hopeless...During that time, I was going through a very public divorce. Going through a custody battle. My dad died, and my son went into rehab," Marie says. In rehab, Michael tried to take his own life. "But at that time," Oprah says, "didn't he promise that he would never [attempt suicide] again?" "He did," Marie says. "And I believed him..." - Oprah.com (READ MORE)
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s. Her best known song is a cover of the country pop ballad "Paper Roses." From 1976 to 1979, she and her singer brother Donny Osmond hosted the TV variety show Donny & Marie...Olive Marie Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah to Olive and George Osmond, and was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the only daughter of nine children; her brothers are Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny and Jimmy Osmond. From an early age, her brothers maintained a career in show business, singing and performing on national television. Osmond debuted as part of her brothers' act The Osmond Brothers on the The Andy Williams Show when she was three, but generally did not perform with her brothers in the group's television performances through the 1960s...On April 29, 2009, Osmond revealed that her oldest daughter, Jessica, is a lesbian and had been living in Los Angeles with her girlfriend for the past three years. In interviews Osmond has expressed support for her daughter and for same sex marriage rights. On February 26, 2010, Osmond's son Michael committed suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of his apartment building in Los Angeles. He reportedly battled depression for most of his life and had been in rehabilitation at the age of 12. The autopsy released on April 21, 2010 revealed that no drugs were found in his system. Marie Osmond is a Republican. - Wikipedia (READ MORE)
Related Reading:
- Official Web-site: Marie Osmond
- Marie Osmond suicide bid denied
- Marie Osmond opens up about son's suicide
- Marie Osmond Wants Marriage Equality for Her Lesbian Daughter
- Marie Osmond: The Son I Lost
- Marie Osmond opens up about son’s tragic suicide in new memoir
- Marie Osmond celebrates 40 years of 'The Young and the Restless' on Hallmark
- Marie Osmond speaks out in support of marriage equality
- Video: Marie Osmond Supports Gay Daughter & Marriage Equality
- Marie Osmond's Personal Renewal (Video)
- Person of the Week: Marie Osmond's Personal Renewal (Video)
