Mumbai: Actress Lauren Gottlieb during GQ Best Dressed Men 2016 Awards, in Mumbai, on June 2, 2016. (Photo: IANS)
Vienna, Sep 18 (IANS) Dancer-actress Lauren Gottlieb, who is on a "quest of self discovery", got emotional when she visited the St. Stephen's Cathedral church in Vienna.
Lauren took to Instagram on Sunday to share a long message with his fans in which she talked about how her family lost her grandfather while she was a participant on the US dance reality show "So You Think You Can Dance".
Lauren wrote: "I want to share something I have never spoken about. Just about 10 years ago my grandfather was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was devastating for our family as this cancer works really fast.
"At that time, I was on 'So You Think You Can Dance'. It was my first time on national TV and a really crazy thing happened where a family that I had never met before, reached out to me on a thing called MySpace to say 'Hey, we've never met, but we are your relatives'.
She added: "When our tour came to my hometown of Arizona, our entire extended family of about 50 people gathered at my house. My grandfather said I was the family angel who brought us all together one last time for him.
"I got the news of his passing a few hours before our final tour show and needless to say, I was devastated."
The "ABCD" star said that performing on "So You Think You Can Dance" was one of the "toughest things to get through" after her grandfather's demise.
"Yesterday I was in Vienna and went to visit the St. Stephen's Cathedral. As I sat in complete awe of the church all I could think about was him. It was here in Austria where he grew up. It was here in Austria where his childhood was taken away when Hitler came to kill all the Jews," she said.
"I was so overwhelmed with emotion I burst into tears in the middle of the church. My head fell back and I looked up to gasp for air and was so shocked to see that I was sitting under this giant cross with Jesus looking down at me. In my grandfather's voice, I heard him say 'It's okay. I'm here with you'," she added.
Lauren stated that 2016 has been "full of travelling" for her.
"I've been on a quest of self discovery and like my father always says introspection. Sometimes in order to figure out where you want to go in life you need to know where you came from," she said.
