This journal documents the author's experiences as a television writer. To read the story from its inception, go to the beginning.

September 3, 2001

An ennobling endeavor
It is Labor Day and my thoughts turn to my mother. For twenty years she worked as a civil servant in the criminal court system of New York City. And though she claims it wasn't always so, I only have memories of her despising her job. Every night she'd return home from the courts exhausted, with barely enough energy to put on a ratty robe and collapse sobbing onto the couch. Beaten, a glass of Chivas Regal her only companion, she'd bemoan her fate and fall asleep only to awake a few hours later to repeat her grueling routine the next day.

I grew up determined to have a different life. To enjoy what I do for a living. To not view the 40-60 hours per week spent earning a wage as a necessary evil, but as an ennobling endeavor. And so I always thought it was observing my mother's misery that really drove me to be an actor and a writer. But I was only half right.

Today I was watching a New York Mets baseball game on tv. They are having a disappointing season. In fact, despite last year's winning record and a trip to the World Series, most seasons for the Mets have ended with more games lost than won. But, as I have done for most of the last three decades, I watch them until the very last game. I pray for a miracle. I hope against hope that they can make an astounding comeback. They almost never do. Yet when that miracle happens, as it did in 1969 and 1986, my faith in the universe is restored. Will can triumph over adversity. Perseverance can master circumstance.

For the twenty years she hated her job, my mother never gave up. With no husband, no support from her family, lacking a college education, she raised two children. She was a mess. Life was traumatic. But it is sweet victory that my sister and I are here today. And so I write to beat the odds.

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� 2001 - 2002 tv writer. All rights reserved.