You can have it all: Vanessa L. Williams has an NBA hunk husband, a new child and a new lease on life - Cover Story

Ebony, May, 2002 by Lynn Norment

She adds that on occasion, her kids also "see that wicked witch voice come out," referring to her role in Into the Woods. She tells how Melanie, a cheerleader at her school, recently came home from a game an hour and a half after her curfew. "Instead of screaming and belittling her, when she came in, she just looked at me, and I said, `You know this will never happen again.' And she understood. She knows that if it ever happens again, her privileges will be taken away and she wouldn't be able to be a cheerleader. Which is even more embarrassing."

For role models, Williams looks to her own parents. Her mother, Helen Williams, is a retired music teacher who stays busy these days with her grandkids and community activities. Her father, Milton Williams, continues to teach music at the local school and give private lessons. But not on Tuesdays. That evening is reserved for Melanie, Jillian and Devin to come for dinner and music lessons. Soon Sasha will start lessons as well.

Vanessa says the one lesson in particular she learned from her parents and hopes to impart to her kids is, "You are going to have to be better than everybody else just to be considered equal." She wants her children to be aware that because they are in an integrated school and environment, others are watching them, that they are the ones who will be identified if they mischievous. "If a whole bunch of kids are smoking pot behind the school, they are going to remember the Black ones," she tells them.

She also wants her kids to "feel comfortable in their own skin, to feel proud of their heritage, who they are and where they are from. And that they are not afraid to follow what is inside their hearts ... I hope they have the courage to go for whatever it is they want."

If one of her children decides to pursue a career in show business, Williams says she would support and encourage them "if they were talented ... and after they got their college degree."

Though her life is full and fulfilling, Williams says she may have another baby. She has always wanted a big family. And from all appearances, the slender beauty is in great shape. With regular workouts on her treadmill, yoga sessions and eating nutritiously, she's back to a size 4-6, about the same size she was when she was crowned Miss America.

"We may go one more time for another child. Maybe," she says, her eyes twinkling. "Rick wants one more. I think we are able to go one more time, because I'm blessed to be able to have kids at my age whereas my friends are struggling ... That will be six total."

Seems that Vanessa Williams can say the same about motherhood that she says about Broadway: "I really feel it is what I do best."