Well, if you�re anything like me, you�re reeling from the startling news that Gwen Stefani and her husband recently learned that he has a 15-year-old daughter by another woman. I know. I�m stunned, and I just keep thinking, �Poor Gwen!� and weeping and shaking and wrapping myself tighter in the brightly colored crocheted afghan I keep for just such occasions. I am reeling.

According to the paper, Gwen is �shocked.� Wait, did it say �shocked�? I have to check. Excuse me. The word is �devastated.� DEVASTATED!!!! And who wouldn�t be, upon receiving the horrific news that her husband slept with someone else almost sixteen years ago? Can you even imagine the pain? The important thing to remember here is that Gwen, despite her successful recording career and millions of dollars and extensive shoe collection, is a fragile, gossamer butterfly. The mere thought of something happening outside her control is enough to crush her like a caterpillar beneath the treads of a Caterpillar.

I, for one, admire her strength in the face of this developing nightmare. She�s not hiding, wrapped up in an afghan and keening away. She�s put the focus right where it belongs: on herself. And what better way to acknowledge the existence of a stepdaughter than to state your devastation in the papers? �Hi there, insecure teenager still forming your perception of yourself�the mere fact that you exist is devastating. To me.�

Star of the day. . .Grace Kelly