Jennie Garth opened up on her podcast, I Choose Me, about how she and her three daughters, Luca, Fiona, and Lola, are adjusting to a major change in the family dynamic.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 star revealed that her mother, Carolyn Garth, had moved in with their family after being diagnosed with cognitive issues, and explained that it had been a whirlwind of emotions for her and her kids.
“Mimi, my mom, the girl’s grandma, moved into our house,” Jennie explained. “She’s 83, and she’s suffering from some cognitive challenges as she’s gotten older.”
“I’m sure being in the presence of that many generations, like it has some effect on you, because I know it has an effect on me,” she said to her daughters.
“And I look at how I can do better and take better care of myself so that I can avoid certain things, not just for my benefit, but for y’all’s benefit too…I don’t want you to ever take care of me…I don’t want to be a burden. And I think every mom says that.”
Jennie’s daughter, Lola, 23, shared that having Carolyn at home was a bittersweet experience for the family.
© Disney General Entertainment Con“There’s a lot of feelings. There’s a lot of happiness that we get to spend time with her and help her,” she said. “I feel like since she’s moved in, I don’t know if ‘gotten better’ is the right term, but she’s definitely had a bit more positivity, which is a really sweet thing to watch.”
“And it’s sad, it’s scary, it’s a lot of things, but I first and foremost feel very grateful that I get to spend this chapter of her life with her and make her feel as safe as we possibly can.” Jennie added that she was still grappling with the range of emotions that began to swirl when her mother moved in.
© Instagram“Having Mimi move in has been so many things. I don’t want to get emotional, but it’s been really scary and eye-opening and wonderful and deeply saddening. There’s so many things that go with caring for your mother when they get older,” she said.
© Getty Images“My mom doesn’t have another option, so we took her in as a family, and of course, [we] want to take care of her and make her later life as beautiful as she made my life and as beautiful as she made you girls’ lives.”
© Instagran“She was such a great grandma,” the ’90s star added. “She still is in her own way now, in her capacity now. But it’s just really fascinating to sit with different-aged women who’ve all grown up in the same world.”
The blonde beauty, who grew up in Illinois and Arizona as the youngest of seven children, shares her daughters with her ex-husband, Peter Facinelli. The pair split in 2012 after 11 years of marriage, and Jennie tied the knot with Dave Abrams in July 2015.
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