Selena Gomez is among the many Disney Channel child stars that we have all grown up with and who had an immense impact on us. Despite singing along to her music, laughing at Wizards of Waverly place, and copying all her style trends, Selena is one of the few whose impact goes deeper than that. Recently, she has been in the news for two quite varying yet equally impactful stories: her Lupus recovery and her reconciliation with the one and only, Justin Bieber.
In a recent interview on the Today Show, Selena discusses how her close friend Francia Raisa quite literally saved her life by undergoing a kidney transplant that diminished her chance of her Lupus returning to nearly impossible. It was hard not to get choked up watching Selena’s best friend Francia recalling, “She couldn’t open a water bottle one day. She chucked it and she started crying. And I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ and that’s when she told me. And she goes, ‘I don’t know what to do. The list is seven to ten years long.’” Without stating it directly, Selena and her friend alike both infer that there was a chance Selena wouldn’t have survived her condition without the selfless act of Francia donating her kidney. We have known Selena has been struggling with Lupus for years but not until now did it become apparent just how much she had been struggling.
Following Selena’s long and brutal recovery, she clearly seemed to be feeling more herself. She began going out in public more, making music, and reconnecting with a certain past lover. At first it was reported that The Weeknd “didn’t care” about her and Justin hanging out, but the recent split of their 10-month relationship implies otherwise. Selena and Justin have been spotted spending time together the past two Sundays going to church, bike riding, hanging out at his house and more. We are trying not to get our hopes up too high; we truly just want what’s best for Selena’s happiness after how far she has come.
Fans feel a deeper than usual connection to Selena and her relationship with the Biebs because of how open she has been throughout it all. We’ve watched her breakdown on stage performing her hit song, “The Heart Wants What it Wants”, open up in countless interviews on how much she was struggling, manage to mature and find romantic love elsewhere, and now come back full circle a grown woman. Selena feels more like a friend to her fans than a superstar because through music, interviews, and social media she has always been her authentic self instead of trying to put on a front that she had it all together. Selena’s fans recognize that she is a human being like the rest of us who has gone through immense hurt and found a way to put herself back together. Overall, we can’t make any true conclusions just yet about her reconnection with Justin, but we can be happy for her recovery and thank her for helping millions of girls be themselves.