Ariel Winter extended a heartfelt thank you to her older sister, Shanelle Workman, in a touching Instagram post on Sunday, May 8, in honor of Mother’s Day.
“#HappyMothersDay to this insanely beautiful woman inside and out, my sister, my best friend,” the 18-year-old Modern Family star wrote. “I love you so much. You are the most amazing mother I’ve ever known and we are all so grateful for you! Although I’m now 18 and mommy role is over, I will always have a special place in my heart for those years you raised me as your own.”
“So this day is your day, because you deserve the world!” she continued. “I always feel so lucky that I have such an amazing role model. I hope one day I can be as wonderful as you. I love you more than anything and I am so grateful to have you. Thank you for being the most amazing person on this planet and for being my everything.”
Winter officially won emancipation from her estranged mother, Chrisoula Workman, in May 2015, after a three-year-long custody battle.
The teen actress was first removed from her mother’s home in November 2012 amid allegations of physical and emotional abuse, and her sister Shanelle was named her legal guardian in May 2014.
In March, Winter gushed about her sister’s supportive role in her life, especially through such a tough time.
“She’s been the best part of my life. She really is my best friend. She’s the most important thing to me,” the actress told Ellen DeGeneres of her 37-year-old sibling. “She’s been there for me through absolutely everything. And I just love her so much. I count on her more than anything.”
Winter added that she would prefer to keep the details of her troubled family history under wraps.
“I don’t really talk about the reason that I don’t speak to my mother,” she said. “It’s kind of been publicized, but the reason I don’t really share that is because I want to give her the same respect that she didn’t give to me publicly. It just really didn’t try to fix anything with me. It just tried to make herself look better and I’m not interested in doing that. People can make their own judgments. I did what I had to do for myself.”
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