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Daniel Henney's Mother Travels Back to Her Roots

Korean-American TV soap star Daniel Henney, who shot to stardom here in the hit summer show "My Name is Kim Sam-soon", has finally made it where it really matters, in his hometown of Carson City, Michigan. As proof, look no further than the local paper, the Daily News, which recently chronicled the voyage of Henney's mother to visit her celebrity son in the country of her birth.

The article, from Aug. 20, starts with Christine Henney's arrival in Korea and her subsequent visit to a fashion show, where she watches from the front row as her son struts down the catwalk. It quotes a Korean newspaper's account of the commotion caused by Henney's emergence from the wings, when female fans, even those who were hopelessly far away, hoisted their digital cameras and cell phones high above their heads in hopes of capturing their glimpse of the star for posterity. But the paper added it was really the actor's mother who was most excited by the event.

The article also homed in on moments of intense emotion during Christine Henney's first trip to her mother country since leaving the Isabelle Orphanage in Busan when she was adopted in America in 1958 at the age of two.

Christine Henney said there were many incredible moments reflecting her son's stellar rise to stardom. In one restaurant, she recalls, "there had to be at least 500 people there, we walked in and all of a sudden we just heard everybody scream, cameras going off. It's unbelievable the way everybody recognizes him. We almost got smothered and had to run out the back without eating". She was also startled by the aggressiveness of the hordes of autograph seekers. But the highlight of her trip was a quieter moment: her return, this time with her own son, to the orphanage where she had lived all those years ago. Although the orphanage closed in 1962 and became the Isabelle Middle and High Schools, Christine Henney said, "I just wanted to feel what it was like back then".

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