They Were Completely Awestruck
Newell had said, “It was such an unbelievable moment for us because we were at a moment in our life when we thought this would never be a possibility.” The families ended up being close, especially since the Van Ryn’s took care of their daughter. Whitney is forever indebted to them. “The Van Ryn’s, they loved me like I was their daughter because they believed that I was their daughter.” She continued, Â “And even after I wrote ‘Whitney’ and their world changed and they knew that I wasn’t their daughter, they still treated me like I was their family.”