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Eva Longoria

...On Overcoming Obstacles

...On Overcoming Obstacles

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Inspiring words from Eva Longoria in the new issue of Parade magazine.

The Desperate Housewives star opens up about her older sister, Liza, and how she’s been influenced and inspired by her.

“Liza is mentally challenged,├óΓé¼┬¥ Eva reveals. ├óΓé¼┼ôShe was my hero growing up. It was a blessing to watch her overcome every obstacle├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥tying her shoes, putting on a shirt, getting out the front door. And yet she still had a job and would come home on the bus by herself and help with dinner. You could only imagine the hurdles she encountered every minute of the day.├óΓé¼┬¥

Eva’s mother, Ella, became a special-education teacher to help Liza and others coping with disabilities.

“Liza was a role model to get me ready for life in Hollywood,” Longoria adds. “You don’t take health for granted. You don’t take life for granted. It seems so insignificant to go, ‘Darn it, I didn’t get that movie role,’ or, ‘Darn it, so-and-so is wearing the same dress as me to the Emmys.’ I didn’t know there was another way. I thought everyone should be sensitive and somewhat unselfish.

“My family is extremely optimistic,” she continues. “I’m really blessed. It’s just in my nature to be cheerful. I don’t try to be that way, but I’ve learned there’s no better medicine than laughing.”

Eva credits her whole work ethic to her mother. “She raised us [Longoria and her three sisters] on a teacher’s salary with my dad working all the time. I don’t know how she did it. That’s why I never feel like I’m doing enough. I have to constantly do more and more, because it’s nothing compared to what my mother did.”

Her childhood experiences have driven her to charitable involvements, including Padres Contra El Cáncer (Parents Against Cancer) and the Entertainment Industry Foundation/Callaway Golf Foundation, where she tries to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. “I’m a woman, I’m a daughter, and I have a sister with a mental disability,” she says. “So a lot of causes are very relevant to me.” Her sister Liza is the inspiration for the actress’s own San Antonio-based Eva’s Heroes. “We help intellectually disabled children grow and play,” she explains. “We set up after-school programs, and we’ve put on golf tournaments to raise money where I prove that I’m a terrible golfer. But I can drive a mean golf cart and wear the cute outfits.”

Eva is passionate about the need for people like U to get involved too. “You can never think, ‘I’m not rich. I’m not famous. What could I possibly do?’ ” she says. “What makes the world go ’round is everyday people.”

Amen! Amen!

CLICK HERE for more information on Eva’s Heroes

CLICK HERE for more information on Padres Contra El Cáncer

and

CLICK HERE for more information on the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

[Image via WENN.]

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Nov 20, 2007 17:42pm PDT

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