Karolyn Grimes loves December. She looks forward to trimming the tree, playing her favorite carols, and decking the halls of her home outside Seattle. And like millions of other Americans, Karolyn loves to watch It's a Wonderful Life and The Bishop's Wife on tv.

Unlike most people, however, Karolyn's fascination with these classic holiday movies stems not just from their inspirational stories, but also from the fact that she was an actress in both. She played the role of Zuzu in It's a Wonderful Life and Debby in The Bishop's Wife.

"I was only 6 and 7 years old respectively when those movies were made," Karolyn says. "I loved that time in my life."

Now six decades later, Karolyn looks back on those feel-good movies as more than just Hollywood productions. Her life, like those famous Christmas films, bears witness to the fact that broken hearts and shattered dreams don't need to be wasted. Like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, Karolyn discovered that in the hardships of life, she was actually given a wonderful gift.

By the time Karolyn was 14, her mother died of early-onset Alzheimer's. A year later her dad was killed in a car accident. Authorities placed her with an uncle in Osceola, Missouri.

"My uncle's wife was not happy to have me living in her home," Karolyn admits. "It was a very painful transition. I'd lost both my folks, uprooted from a career and community I loved, and placed in a family that didn't want me."

Karolyn determined she would not cave in. Claiming the truth of Psalm 23, she pictured the Shepherd caring for her in the presence of her enemies. Karolyn found her identity in the school choir and drama club.

While pursuing a degree in music, she met a young man who offered her the security she'd not found in her surrogate family. They were married and had two daughters.

After less than ten years, the marriage collapsed. Karolyn worked as a medical technician to provide for her growing children. Two years after her husband left, he was killed in a hunting accident, leaving the girls without a daddy.

"I knew I needed someone in my life to help me raise my girls," Karolyn admits. "I soon fell in love with a guy who had three kids of his own. It was like a Brady Bunch marriage. In addition to the handful we brought to the relationship, we have two more of our own."

But once again, the marriage proved difficult. Karolyn poured herself into raising her kids, while her husband pursued his own career. When their 18-year-old son committed suicide a month before his high school graduation, the stress on the marriage resulted in a lengthy separation.

"To be honest, I wondered where the Lord was in all of that," Karolyn says wistfully. "My son was the sunshine of my life. Still, the God of Psalm 23 shepherded me through the valley of death's chilly shadows."

It was about this time that It's a Wonderful Life experienced a revival in popularity. Karolyn began to receive opportunities to make appearances. As she traveled the country, her husband was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Once again her tragedy-prone life proved anything but wonderful. He died within six months. But Karolyn found the spiritual strength to accept what God had allowed and to invest her heartache in the lives of the fans that wrote to share their sorrows with her.

These days, she maintains a website (www.zuzu.net) and reads e-mails from everyone who writes to her, especially those who have lost a mate or a child to suicide like she has.

"The most important message in It's a Wonderful Life is how one life touches another," the 67-year-old says with a smile. "The Lord has redeemed the sorrow in my life by allowing me to empathize with others. God offers hope to what seems like a hopeless situation. I believe that because I've experienced it over and over again."