Chapter 20

Carrie was in high school now and joined the softball and basketball team. I began going with my mom to the games. I re-evaluated our sisterhood. Growing up I had never been the greatest sister to Carrie. The reason for this meanness was the underlying resentment. I was just nine when she entered this world, she was my stepfather's daughter and she got all of the attention, but Carrie wasn't a baby anymore. We started having mature conversations; if I had a problem she might be able to help me and vice versa. It just so happened that as Carrie and I grew closer I realized how alike we really were.

I was chomping at the bit to live on my own. I now had a car but that was not enough independence for me. My insides were still jumbled & I was a mess. There was no peace in my life and I was attempting to do anything I could to find some. I thought my own place would be a start so I moved into the dorms at school.

I took a drama class and met a woman at the film lab. We became friends and began talking about some ideas we had for a public service announcement. She got the crew together while I got Mary to agree to do it with me. The P.S.A. showed Mary on the phone asking the person on the other end to meet her at the mall in an hour. The next shot shows me in my red Camero be-bopping along to a song that was on the radio. The next shot was in the mall, a young woman who resembled Mary walked by and then the camera pulls back and shows me high-stepping toward Mary in her wheelchair and the vice over says, “Sue and Mary didn’t plan to meet this way until a drunk driver met them”. Babaam, we had struck gold, or so I thought.

I went to the local playhouse to see if they had any work for a handicapped actress. They did not have any but they gave me the name of a theater that provided work for handicapped actors. I sent them my pictures and resume`. The theater, which is in Santa Barbra, Ca. was touring with their play and would be coming to the playhouse. Before they came, I called them and asked if they had gotten my pictures and resume`. We had a nice chat and when they came to the playhouse I met with the company manager. Shortly after that, the director called me. He said they were putting on a new play and would I like to fly out there and audition. What a question, of course I’ll be there. I flew to LA and auditioned for the role of Sheila in, ‘The Boys Next Door’. The audition could not have gone any smoother and I landed the part.