Waukesha Family Appearing on Oprah Winfrey's Mother's Day Special

Jordan Ivy, 21, already grew up without his father in the picture when his father passed away in 2010.

Ivy wrote to Oprah Winfrey about his experience after his father died. And Winfrey was so touched by his letter that she’s asked the Waukesha family to appear on Oprah’s LifeClass Mother’s Day Special at 8 p.m. Sunday on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

“One of the things he says on the show is for all of his life he is focused on trying not to be a certain man instead of just being the man that (he is),” said Tara Wurtz, a single mom of two boys.

Her youngest son, Kaden Pratt, is a student at Waukesha West High School. While all three appear on the show, the attention is mostly on Ivy after he wrote Winfrey about growing up without a father.

The message of the show, Wurtz said, is about “your faith, your belief in god and (to) be there for your child, be strong and be supportive.”

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The episode helped open her eyes, Wurtz said, when it came to raising her two sons. As she watched Ivy open up, she had the opportunity to focus on the positive.

“I have to look at it from the perspective that we have been very blessed in the opportunities and the doors that have been opened for us,” Wurtz said. “We have been very, very blessed.”

• Watch the Mother’s Day Special preview on OWN.