Rap legend Lil’ Kim has been noticeably busy trying to make a comeback in the rap scene and battling her femcee rival Nicki Minaj. But in a recent interview with OK! Magazine, the Queen Bee revealed that when she’s not rocking the mic, she’s busy caring for her ailing father.
According to the rapper, when her estranged father, Linwood Jones, began showing signs of Alzheimer’s, she immediately welcomed him into her home to take care of him.
“We have to feed him, because he can’t make his own food,” she explained. “He can’t really pour juice. He can get dressed, but we have to help him sometimes. Basically we have to help him do almost everything. He can walk around and stuff like that. And again, it’s early stages.”
Kim adds that sometimes her father’s illness leads to some very scary situations.
“He remembers to do some things, but sometimes he forgets some things. Like one time, he forgot to turn off the stove, and the coffee pot caught on fire. We had to run and put it out. It was really crazy,” said Kim.
Though doctors have yet to diagnose Jones with Alzheimer’s, Kim and her family are sure that he has it.
“Here’s the thing — we feel and know that he has an early case of Alzheimer’s,” she said. “The doctors won’t really diagnose him with it, but we know that he does. They say that it seems to be an early case of it — this is what they’re saying. But he has this shaking-jitters condition that is almost the same thing . Don’t get this wrong, because then people will be like ‘oh, her dad has M.S.’ — no, he almost has the same symptoms as a person who has Multiple Sclerosis where they shake — they shake really bad. Yes. So it’s those type of symptoms. It stems from the situation.”
During her younger days, Kim and her father didn’t enjoy a loving relationship. After Kim’s parents separated when she was 9, she was raised by her father until he kicked her out his home when she was a teen.
Kim subsequently spent time living with friends and on the streets, fending for herself using any means necessary.
So, what would compel her to care for her father despite their rocky past?
“Well, I am a child of God,” she says. “I believe in God, and I also believe in the quote ‘honor thy mother and thy father.’ No matter what, I’m always going to be there for my family.”
Well, kudos to Kim for stepping up to the plate to take care of her father. And she’s not the only celeb with a sick family member. Check out a list of other celebs caring for ailing relatives below. – nicholas robinson
