Remember Kitten from “Father Knows Best,” one of those oppressive shows that made you feel really bad about your own dysfunctional family? Turns out she, too, came from a dysfunctional family, and the TV show of her actual life might have been more aptly titled, “Thank God Father Knows Best Because Mother Is a Freakin’ Nightmare.” See below–Excerpted from TCPalm.com
VERO BEACH — When Lauren Chapin played the character of the youngest daughter on the hit TV series “Father Knows Best” half a century ago, the small-screen version of her life projected the warmth and stability of the archetypal 1950’s nuclear family.
But Chapin, now an ordained minister at Immanuel Church of Vero Beach, wants women to know that her real life wasn’t always like that. Her real-life mother was an alcoholic and Chapin was abused as a child.
But she also wants women to know that if she can overcome such obstacles in life, they can, too.
Chapin, 64, recently moved to Vero Beach and will share her life story in a new series entitled Women of Purpose, which is offered Friday evenings at 7 p.m. at the Immanuel Church. The 16-week program, starting this Friday, is free and open to the public.
“This is going to be an interactive program,” Chapin explained. “I’m not going to stand up in front and lecture people. Instead we’re going to share our stories with each other, pray for each other and apply the word of God to our lives with joy. It’s going to be very casual and comfortable.”
The series is open to women from diverse backgrounds, be they of different faiths or non-believers, she said. It is designed to benefit women dealing with such problems as drug or alcohol addictions, prison records, loneliness — or those without such problems, she said.
AND HERE SHE IS TODAY, HAVING SURVIVED IT ALL:
Lauren Chapin
