{"id":2360000,"date":"2026-04-05T23:03:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2360000"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:03:41","slug":"always-the-life-of-every-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/always-the-life-of-every-party\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Always the life of every party\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/gabrielle-union\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Gabrielle Union;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Gabrielle Union&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Gabrielle Union<\/a> is mourning the loss of her father, Sylvester &#8220;Cully&#8221; Union Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The &#8220;Bring It On&#8221; actress announced In an emotional Sunday <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DWuo-y8j9wv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Instagram&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Instagram<\/a> post that her father died at 81 on Friday, April 3, after a lengthy battle with dementia. Paying tribute to his life and legacy, Union took time to remember her father and acknowledged the difficulty of losing a loved one gradually to a disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;No matter how much you think you know about dementia, nothing prepares you for the painfully slow disappearing of your loved one,&#8221; Union began. &#8220;First it\u2019s repeating words or forgetting little things here or there, then BOOM, he can\u2019t swallow or walk. The them that you know gets smaller and smaller. You hold out hope for sustained eye contact or a smile; even a hand squeeze can make you feel like they could come back to you &#8216;normal&#8217; at any second. It\u2019s brutal and it\u2019s what he experienced, but it wasn\u2019t who he was.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Kaavia James Union Wade, Dwyane Wade, Sylvester Union, and Gabrielle Union<br \/>Credit: Gabrielle Union\/Instagram<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The statement was accompanied by a compilation video, featuring photos and video of Sylvester from throughout his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The &#8220;Forbidden Fruits&#8221; actress went on to describe her father as &#8220;always the life of every party&#8221; and someone &#8220;surrounded by love and support from his ever-growing village.&#8221; She added, &#8220;I swear he never met a stranger, just friends he hadn\u2019t met yet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Union continued, &#8220;My Dad was a perfectly imperfect man and father. Over time he evolved, acknowledged his imperfections, apologized, and made amends for as long as it took for the hurts to heal. He made it his business to look after everyone. He loved our friends too and treated them like his sons and daughters. No one was ever left behind or unseen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Over the past few years, Union has been candid about her father&#8217;s journey with dementia, sharing social media updates and photos of her family spending time together in the wake of his diagnosis. Sylvester was placed in memory care in 2023, a specialized assisted living residence with staff trained to handle cognitive decline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Toward the end of her tribute post, Union took time to thank the medical and memory care staff who cared for Sylvester, in addition to all those who stepped up to aid the family through their grief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It\u2019s bewildering to feel relief that the pain has ended, but profound heartbreak at the finality of his time,&#8221; she concluded. &#8221; know I\u2019m not the first or last Daddy\u2019s girl to go through this, and I\u2019m sending love and healing to anyone suffering the loss of a parent. I know his love is eternal and will find me in every realm.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our <\/em><\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;EW Dispatch newsletter&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong><em>EW Dispatch newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Union&#8217;s post was met with support from friends and loved ones, including her husband Dwayne Wade who reshared her statement with the caption, &#8220;Thank you for all the memories pops. [Love] you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/gabrielle-union-mourns-father-death-11943162\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Entertainment Weekly&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gabrielle Union is mourning the loss of her father, Sylvester &#8220;Cully&#8221; Union Jr. The &#8220;Bring It On&#8221; actress announced In an emotional Sunday Instagram post that her father died at 81 on Friday, April 3, after a lengthy battle with dementia. Paying tribute to his life and legacy, Union took time to remember her father [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2360001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[355073,28525],"class_list":["post-2360000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-dementia","tag-gabrielle-union"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/\u2018Always-the-life-of-every-party.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2360000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2360002,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360000\/revisions\/2360002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2360001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2360000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2360000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2360000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}