Diana Ross’ eldest daughter, Rhonda Ross Kendrick expresses her love for her only son, Raif in a photo that epitomizes her joy in being a mother. She had him after three miscarriages.
A flurry of big hair is what you will first recognize in the photo Rhonda shares on her Instagram, a lovely one featuring her and her 10-year-old son, Raif. It also reminds us so much of Rhonda’s mother who shared the same voluminous hair.
Soon, Rhonda’s smile takes over, a smile that comes from deep within, one that carries with it the joy of sharing her only child to the world, a child she thought she would never have after three miscarriages.
THE JOY THAT CAME WITH HAVING RAIF
Rhonda was nearing 40 when she had Raif in August 2009. He was her fourth pregnancy after suffering three miscarriages. She was so traumatized by those failed pregnancies that she admitted feeling terrified the whole time she was carrying Raif.
“That’s not the right place to be—that kind of fear is not cool to be carrying around,” she told Bronzeville Life last year.
But Raif was born healthy, giving Rhonda a renewed sense of hope. She delivered him a week before her birthday and confessed, “I felt a download from the Spirit” that time.
“I heard a Spirit say, ‘you know everything you need to know for this child, and you need to trust yourself,'” she added.
Raif turned out to be a breath of fresh air for Rhonda and her family. In fact, at his young age, he already drew attention on stage when he presented his grandmother with the lifetime achievement award at last year’s Grammys.
ON RAISING RAIF RIGHT
Rhonda knew then that every decision she made moving forward carried with it a significant amount of responsibility.
“You realize you have to make the final decision for this child—everything from education to health to his psyche to how you’re going to relate to him,” she explained. “In those early days, it matters.”
Looking back, the 48-year-old reflects that if she made different choices then, her son would be a totally different child today.
He also delighted the audience at the American Music Awards when he showed off his impressive dance moves while his grandmother, who was honored a lifetime achievement award, performed.
RHONDA'S COMPLICATED CHILDHOOD
Raif is the product of Rhonda’s marriage to pianist Rodney Kendrick. They’ve been married since 1996. And while Raif is growing up with his parents, Rhonda didn’t have that same fate. She was raised by her stepfather, Robert Ellis Silberstein along with Diana who was pregnant with Rhonda during her marriage to Robert. Rhonda’s father was really Diana’s record producer and former lover, Berry Gordy.
“I’d meet fans on the street who’d say, ‘Oh child, we knew you were Berry Gordy’s daughter — you look just like him!’ ”
“The bottom line was, I looked just like [Gordy], and my sisters looked just like their father, a 6-foot-tall Jewish American man.”
Though it took her a while to learn the truth, she later learned that the public knew all along.
“I’d meet fans on the street who’d say, ‘Oh child, we knew you were Berry Gordy’s daughter — you look just like him!’ ”
Regardless, Rhonda held Robert in high regard because he treated her like his own even when he knew she wasn’t his biological child when Diana was pregnant with her.
These experiences must have taught Rhonda to be even more appreciative of her son she refers to as “my young prince.” Raif is lucky to have her as his mother.
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