
The story in my family goes that my mother shoveled snow on my due date. As a public school teacher, she only had a couple weeks of maternity leave and she wasn't going to waste it. I was born in the deepening blizzard, right on time. By the time I was old enough to watch television, we had models for working women, like my mom. The first show I apparently ever expressed any interest in, "Happy Days," featured a prime example: Shirley Feeney.
"They don't teach you show business, so I became the next best thing: a waitress."