Tabitha Brown

I'm thankful that God gave me light again, and to be light for other people's darkness is a responsibility that I take very seriously.

I watched my mother be one of the most vibrant, happy women every day. She loved to smile, all the time. She was a smile; she was pure sunshine. And with ALS in her last few months of her life, she lost her ability to smile.

Because I am able, I smile. It is a gift to be able to smile, and I don't take it for granted.

I have so many young fans now that I've joined TikTok, which is mind-blowing to me. Them referring to me as 'mom' or 'auntie,' and my making them feel loved and have less anxiety, I love every second of it.

I always say, 'Have a good day and if you can't, don't you dare go messing up nobody else's.'

I pursued a dream for over 20 years, and it was not successful for the majority. But I never stopped, because the faith inside of me said something greater is coming.

I would do these auditions and then beat myself up. I was always on a diet and always trying to look a certain way, be a certain size and trying to fit in. And because of that, I was not free - I was living for other people and not myself.

Communication is everything. Talking about our feelings, sharing about our feelings, sitting together and having conversations at a table. We used to do that when I was growing up, you know. We sat at the dinner table together and we had conversations about our day, or about our week.

I felt like I missed my opportunity to pursue acting or entertainment. I convinced myself to believe that for quite some time, because I'm from a small town in North Carolina, you get married, have a house and car and live happily ever after. You have a baby early, honey, you go to work! I convinced myself that I had to be OK with that.