Show business is fickle, and though I have been blessed with a healthy career, who knows how long that will last?

I appreciate being able to give back to charities I care about such as the American Diabetes Association - my older sister passed away from diabetes - and Figure Skating in Harlem, which teaches young girls about confidence, focus and goal-setting.

Here's how I look at it: Life is full of challenges. Everybody has them. For some, it's health or family crises. I had a financial challenge.

I took the whole college prep trajectory, and then in my senior year of high school, I decided that performing was something that I had always done as a kid, and I loved it... I said, 'This makes people happy when I do this, I feel good, I get to pretend and explore other areas and learn so much'.

I mourn for the kind of dad I didn't have; I rue my first broken family while taking joy in the one that I've made.

The problem with growing up in a cafe was the cafe never closed, my parents worked every day of the year from morning to night. So it was a big menagerie of kids, business and cooking!

I actually was brought up by an Airedale. I don't really remember my parents, especially my mother. It was only the dog that I saw.

The saga of a nation is the saga of its families written large. And whoever owns the family owns the future.