Making It After All

It's not necessarily a bad thing to have a life role model from a television sitcom. As a child growing up in the '70s and '80s – and living just an hour-plus outside of the Twin Cities – I found that role model in "Mary Richards."

Funny, career-minded and in journalism, Mary Tyler Moore brought a face to a dream for a young wanna-be news reporter. Plus, she (or her character at least) liked the Vikings and Twins? Winner.

The photo above was shared on the Minnesota Twins Facebook page today as a tribute to MTM, who died today at the age of 80. That's her, tossing her hat in the air like she did in the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore show, while the theme song said, "You're gonna make it after all."

The sad irony in the show was that other characters would often mistake Mary as Lou Grant's secretary instead of on the producing team. That brought laughs but as Mr. Grant pointed out, the secretary actually made more money. When I say "sad irony" it's because that's probably not far from the truth, based on my life working in media and publishing.

The other sad irony – and I am not getting on a women's rights rant here – is that people still made that mistake/assumption 20 years later when I started my career as a newspaper reporter. I can't count how many times a male member of the city council or county board called me "sweetheart" or "honey." Would they say that to my male counterparts from the other newspapers and radio stations? Not likely.

My editor was a woman named Teri. Now granted, Teri/Terry could be a man or woman's name. However, I am sure I had called her a "she" or a "her" often enough when talking to my family. Maybe not.  

She, though, was a little miffed when she received a letter from my mother asking her to place an ad for a happy birthday message to me. Nice gesture, Mom, but you shouldn't have started the letter with a "Dear Sir" salutation. Took me awhile to live it down with my self-proclaimed feminist boss. And how can I chastise my mom for trying to do something sweet?

All that aside, I was and always have been serious about having a career and, like Mary, putting up with grief, dishing it out and having some fun along the way.

Thanks for turning the world on with your smile. And igniting my ambition with your grit and grace.