There’s
more to my friend Lenita Vangellis than meets the eye…Although she’s best known
for being an actress and lyricist as well as being the mother of 2005
Australian Idol contestant, turned singer/songwriter and youth and crisis worker
James Kannis.
Although
she’s a woman of other multiple talents, despite that she is equally one of the
most loving, humble, strong and compassionate people that I’ve met; and while
trying to remain true to our personable self and individuality can sometimes be
a tremendously challenging task for us to uphold particularly when you’ve spent
most of your life having your “career classifications” overshadow your
personable identity, and yet despite that, Lenita always conducts herself with
a full capacity of humbleness, elegance and grace.
Some
people say she is strong-willed, which is true but she’s also a really
free-spirited individual as well as a really loving mother who supports her
children and allows them the freedom to grow. Anyone who’s taken the time
and/or has had the opportunity to get to know her personally will understand
exactly what I’m talking about.
Mid last
month, I was lucky to have been invited to support her in the launch of her
book "Ashanti's Symphony". Overall, I had
a great night and it was great to see her in person again, to reunite with
James 3 years after I interviewed him, and meet the rest of her family
(Lenita’s 3 other kids, husband and mum) whom were all really friendly.
When I was there, I saw Greek Australian celebrity
fashion designer Alex Perry (whom she’s been friends with for years) and he
made a really nice introductory speech about her and I also coincidentally
bumped into "My kitchen rules 2012" participant Steve Georgiou.
The book is available to buy on www.lenitavangellis.com
