Jill Marie Jones is thankful for her TV husband and former Girlfriends costar Jason Pace this holiday season as it marks her first Christmas without her mother, Gloria Underwood Jones.
On Thursday, Dec. 26, the actress, 49, posted an Instagram carousel to share how her holiday was filled with love despite the loss.
“Good Morning 🌻🌻🌻Being completely transparent… yesterday was a bit rough for me… it being the first Christmas without my Mom. ♥️🕊,” she wrote.
The first post in the slide was a selfie video of her with Pace, 50, who played the role of Dr. Todd Garrett on the 2000s sitcom.
“Look who was left under my Christmas tree,” he said in the clip as they both smiled and embraced each other.
Her caption continued, “My Dear Friend and Tv Hubbie @thejasonpace called to check up on me and so kindly invited me to dinner at his home with his lovely family. 🤗🤗🤗🤗.”
Jones, who portrayed Antoinette “Toni” Childs-Garrett in the series, referred to Pace’s 17-year-old daughter Sarah as “the next Julia Child,” and added that the teen “cooked the entire meal and made pie… and it SLAPPED!!!”
The Paces were also treated to a bit of nostalgia for Christmas.
“I was also made aware that his sons (Jake and Dean) had never seen their father on Girlfriends… so I definitely had to change that! LOL!!! We watched a couple. 🤗,” Jones concluded.
Girlfriends creator Mara Brock Akil showed her support in the comment section.
“This is beautiful… how love shows up in our lives is the magic of life. Big hug @itsmejillmarie and another to @thejasonpace. Made me smile seeing you two together!,” Akil, 54, wrote.
Other images showed more selfies of the costars and the table setting for their festive feast.
In a video, Pace went through his cabinets as he tried to locate a suitable tea to serve Jones. Two of his kids were also in the kitchen for the clip, as one of the actor’s sons proudly shared that his sister prepared their meal for the evening.
On May 8, Jones shared a video tribute to her mother on Instagram, with photos throughout her lifetime. “🕊🕊🕊💔,” she wrote as the caption.
Girlfriends ran from 2000 to 2008, and focused on a group of Black women — Tracee Ellis Ross (Joan Clayton), Golden Brooks (Maya Wilkes), Persia White (Lynn Searcy) and Jones (Toni) — who were best friends living in Los Angeles.
In September 2020, the sitcom landed on Netflix, two years after the streaming service launched Strong Black Lead, vowing to feature more Black-led content.
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“From the first days of Strong Black Lead in February 2018, our comment sections have been filled with members asking about this kind of classic Black content. So we worked with our content team to make it happen,” Bradley Edwards, Netflix manager of content acquisition, and Jasmyn Lawson, manager of Strong Black Lead, said in a joint statement.
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