James Van Der Beek felt extra thankful this year. The actor shared an emotional message with his followers after his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, suffered a miscarriage earlier this month.
“In a place of newfound gratitude to have @vanderkimberly in this world today,” the 42-year-old Dawson’s Creek alum wrote alongside a picture of Kimberly, 37, on Friday, November 29, via Instagram. “Got really scary for a minute there – scary enough to wake me up to how much appreciation I have for so many things I just take for granted.”
James went on to thank his fans for their love.
“Also… thankful for all of you. I’ll admit, I paused for a moment, wondering if it was healthy to be thankful for one’s IG following, but it’s the quality of people on here I’m grateful for, not so much the quantity,” he wrote. “I’d never been so open (especially with tragedy) as I’ve been these last few weeks, and you responded with love and support and prayers and shared your own stories, and we felt the energy… and it helped. So thank you.”
The former Dancing With the Stars contestant concluded his message with a shoutout to the photographer: “Also grateful that @amandademme was at the same Thanksgiving last night, who saw Kimberly resting after dinner and turned it into this photo. #ArtSaves #happythanksgiving everyone ❤️.”
James and Kimberly, who are parents of Olivia, 9, Joshua, 7, Annabel, 5, Emilia, 3, and Gwendolyn, 17 months, revealed they suffered a miscarriage during the November 18 episode of Dancing With the Stars.
“The little soul that we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond,” James said on the episode. “You never know why these things happen. That’s what I’ve been telling my kids.”
After the episode — and James’ subsequent elimination from the reality TV competition — aired, Kimberly revealed that she almost “lost [her] life” via Instagram Story.
“In 48 hours, we lost our baby — boy, by the way — and I almost lost my life, which is not a story that has been told, but at some point, I can dig into the details with you guys about what happened in the emergency room,” she said at the time. “And James got eliminated from Dancing With the Stars. I’m pretty shocked. … I’m not really ready to talk further about everything yet, but at some point I will.”
Days later, Kimberly confirmed she is “healing” about her hospital stint.
“A lot of you have asked how I’m feeling physically. I’m healing. I am definitely healing. My biggest thing is my blood pressure,” she explained on November 20. “I just get very light-headed very easily so I can’t really get up and walk around for more than a couple minutes right now. A lot of blood transfusion action this weekend, so I’m just taking it super easy trying to restore and build my blood.”
The couple, who wed in 2010, returned to Dancing With the Stars on Monday, November 26, for the finale.
“I’ll tell you one thing, there’s not a trophy in the world that I wouldn’t give up to have had this week with them,” James told Us Weekly exclusively at the taping. “As much as I didn’t understand it at the time, being home was far and away the most important thing this week.”
