When Jack and Gigi were very young, Gigi was 1 1/2 and Jack was 3, we found the very best nanny to help take care of them. Her name was Yadis but Gigi couldn’t pronounce her name so Gigi called her YaYa and that name stuck for all time. She was definitely YaYa to all who knew her. She took care of our kids until they were in school. Our very good friends live just up the street and YaYa became their Nanny.
She helped raise their three kids and we saw Yaya all the time. She would visit us and the kids frequently because it was a short walk down the hill.
She was currently working with David Foster and Katherine McPhee’s family and as with every family, she was loved by all.
A horrible senseless accident happened a few days ago.
She was run over at a car dealership in Mission Hills and killed, by a woman who couldn’t distinguish the brake from the accelerator. It is heartbreaking to our family and to all the families she so profoundly touched.
I am outraged and angry at this thoughtless act and this incompetent woman but that’s not where I am putting my attention.
It is to celebrate a woman who came to this country with nothing and due to here spirit and love, she carved out a beautiful life and left a significant impact on so many. She loved what she did and the kids that she touched loved her deeply. It makes no difference what your position in life is, it’s the way you serve from that position. We are a world that has lost the art of what it truly is to serve. We only think about being served.
YaYa is and was a reminder of the difference each person makes.
Our hearts go out to her family.