Dawson’s Creek alum James Van Der Beek is sharing a sweet story about his TV mum.
The actor who just celebrated his 46th birthday, has revealed on Instagram that he and Mary-Margaret Humes, who played Gail Leery – aka Dawson’s mum – on the hit teen drama in the late 90s and early 2000s, still keep in touch. In fact, she’s been sending him a thoughtful gift on his birthday for the last few years:
“Every year since my mother died, @thereal_marymargarethumes makes me cookies and sends them to me on my birthday,” James captioned a video of his kids reaching for a container of cookies from the kitchen counter.
“I have the best TV momma on the planet.”
James Van Der Beek/ Instagram Stories
James’ own mother, Melinda Weber, passed away in 2020, aged 70.
“My mom crossed over last week,” he wrote in a heartfelt post on Instagram at the time. “Even though we knew this was coming – and had actually thought we were at the end nearly a year and a half ago – I’m still in shock. I’m grateful she’s no longer in pain, I’m sad, I’m angry, I’m relieved…all at once and in different moments. Just trying to hold space and allow for it all.”
While he didn’t share further details about her health condition, he did describe how much Melinda meant to so many people:
“To thousands of kids, she was ‘Miss Melinda’, a gymnastics teacher with a big heart, a creative spirit and a mantra: ‘There’s no such word as can’t!’ To my kids, she was Grammy M….a magical grandma with a big laugh and a basement full of costumes and Christmas lights. And to me… she was my mom. She gave my life. She taught me how to tumble. Drove me to my first auditions. She believed in me based on nothing but her own intuition, and she passed on a craziness that has been crucial to not just my success, but my own personal happiness.”
(Feature Image Credit: Lev Radin/Shutterstock; DFree/Shutterstock)