With both being Hallmark stars, it seems likely that Nikki DeLoach and Sharon Lawrence‘s paths have crossed a few times. And soon, the two will share the screen in the upcoming Countdown to Christmas film, “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas.” DeLoach will play Gentry Wade, a musician who must confront the ghosts of her past, and Lawrence will play Gentry’s cousin, Rita, who helps Gentry accept the Opry’s invitation. However, the women have even more in common than Hallmark.
Like DeLoach, she has been a caregiver for family members who became ill. On November 14, Lawrence appeared on DeLoach and Elizabeth Humphrey’s podcast, “Mind What Matters.” They discussed how caregiving led to Lawrence becoming a part of the Hallmark family and the healing power of music.
Sharon Lawrence Calls Caregiving a Profound ‘Gift’
Lawrence explained that she got into caregiving when her mother-in-law, who was one of her best friends, was diagnosed with liver cancer. “The reason that I ever said yes to my first Hallmark — well, the first time I said yes to an offer from Hallmark — movies, was because she loved watching them, and I thought, ‘Let me sit down and watch with her and spend time with her,” she explained. “And that’s why I became part of the Hallmark universe, was her.”
“I’m very independent and have worked intimately as an actor,” she continued. “But when you are stepping into the role of caregiving in real life, it’s another type of broadening of your physical circle.”
She went on to say that caregiving became “a gift,” and she was ready to walk that road. Even though her in-laws didn’t have Alzheimer’s, the Alzheimer’s Association helped her when she was “unclear and unsure, I could find somebody to speak to,” she admitted.
From Opry to Care: The Healing Power of Music
While discussing caregiving, the topic drifted to music, and Lawrence mentioned the documentary “Alive Inside.” In the film, nonresponsive patients were played their favorite songs, and it caused them to wake up. The reason, Lawrence said, had to do with a part of the brain where lyrics go. “It develops early and stays with the mind longer,” she explained. “So that music is in there, and it’s a key that can help us reach each other.”
“How great that this thing that we all have access to can be for us,” Lawrence added. “Music is so available and so accessible.”
“I will say, you are onto something about music and that playlist, and that moment for them,” DeLoach said in response. “We were just in musical church at ‘The Grand Ole Opry.’ And I say this about music in general: there’s something so beautiful about being in that building at the Opry.”
“It’s 100 years of dreams coming true, and you can feel that on that stage,” the “Home Turf” star said. “But it’s also 100 years of community coming into that building, and sitting in those pews and bringing their heartache, their grief. Whatever pain they’re going in, their celebration, or their joy, or their birthdays, or whatever it is. Bringing it to that space and allowing music to heal, transform, uplift, connect, all of it.”
