I DON’T NORMALLY WATCH daytime television of course, but I have to admit I was tuned to “Wheel of Fortune” when Suzanne called to tell us she got the job. I admit it, I think Vanna White is a real sweetheart. Not so much in the brains department, of course—not like Suzanne. But she’s got this presence that practically comes right through the screen and into your living room. Like Suzanne always said about Vanna, “She understands the camera. It’s like she was born on TV.”
“You better be tuned to Channel 37, Mom,” my little girl told me. “Because from now on, that’s my station.”
“You got the job!” I said, and then I started screaming like I’d won the “Wheel of Fortune” myself. Earl was upstairs in his den. To hear me carrying on, he must’ve thought someone had been murdered.
“I knew you’d get it,” I told Susie. “I’ve been thinking positive.” Which was the case. All that morning I was picturing her, sitting at a desk in front of a microphone, reading the news, interviewing celebrities, and so forth. Ever since she was a little girl, basically, I’ve been visualizing that scene. And now it was finally coming true.
I said she’d be needing some new clothes. We’d better make a trip over to the mall. Then her father got on the extension. We were both just so proud of her. Who wouldn’t be?
We asked her when she was due to start. You didn’t want to miss her debut, that was for sure. She explained to us that she wouldn’t be on camera right away. A person had to put in their time, getting orientated. They were planning to start phasing out the guy they had reading the news, but he had seniority. They couldn’t step on too many toes, you know? But it was only a matter of time before our Susie would be the main on-camera talent. Well, as far as her father and I were concerned, she was always the main talent. The rest of the world just took a little longer to recognize that fact, was all.
“At first I may have to do a little filing and typing,” she told us. “But that’s only temporary. I just know that once the station manager sees what I can do, he’s going to give me my big break.”
“Sure you will, honey,” Earl told her. Suzanne could always get a man to do what she wanted. No one knew that any better than her daddy. When Suzanne set her mind on something, she got it.