This morning I am shooting another AFI student project. I was a little concerned about this one because the schedule kept changing and it seemed to lack a little organization. I try to be understanding because I know that the students are under enormous pressure to deliver. I try to be on time, prepared and giving. The shoot was a lot of fun. I played a businessman who was being harassed by a homeless looking woman. In reality, in the film, she had escaped from a hospital and was trying call her daughter. She wanted to use my cell phone. I couldn’t help her with that, but I dropped some coins on the ground for her to use a payphone. We were shooting downtown and many people thought she was really bothering me which was cool except that a few people looked in the camera.

Audition: “Center of the Universe” @ Valko/Miller Casting. This is my 3rd time auditioning for this show this season. After the initial read CD Nikki Valko asked if I had done an episode yet. I said “no” but I’m dying to do one. I got a callback on the spot, my third.

The producer session goes well. I think they will book today because it starts working tomorrow. I will get on this show somehow. CBS just ordered a few more episodes from them so I guess things look pretty good for them.

Like a ton of bricks this evening I go into a serious depression this evening. It’s never a good sign when I go to bed at 8 or 9pm. I miss my mother more than words could ever describe. I don’t know if it gets any easier, but it really sucks to miss someone so much. Then again it really makes you “feel”.

I read a poem that my niece wrote around the time of my mom’s funeral and it always completely tears me to pieces.
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Here begins the prologue to A Story to Remember

The twenty-third day of the month of November
Became a day that many will remember.

Heaven was now my grandmother's destination,
Her life now called for celebration.

First Lynnhaven Baptist Church could seat no more,
Over three hundred, and more at the door.

Family and friends came from far and wide,
Car, bus and plane just to be by her side.

Czech Republic, L. A. could all be seen,
Birmingham, Philly, and points in between.

Virginia Beach was there for the family's sake
And said goodbye to the queen of Philly Cheese Steak.

So here are Cecil, and actor
Avis, Jeanetta, and the grandmother

There the mother, grandmother, and wife lay
She wore a white sheath adorned with applique'.

With pearls in her ears and around her neck,
She was not a corpse that looked like a wreck.

Over forty years ago she married a Navy man
They moved state to state according to the Navy's plan.

California and Tennessee to name a few
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania too.

Then children were added and oh how they came,
A total of six in all and no two the same.

At their house there was always fun things to do,
With two girls and four boys rounding out the crew.

The pool outside and the pool table in the house
Made it so you could never hear a mouse.

She never complained when the boys were outside
Building bike ramps without any guide.

All neighborhood kids flocked to this playground
Here the imagination had no bounds.

Many other kids wished she was their mother
A better person than her was no other

The actor was simply fulfilling a dream
Just the talk of that business caused him to beam

He had started out small and worked his way up
No more waiting tables or passing out cups

He started with classes to get in the game
From that point on he was headed to fame

He claimed dreadlocks as his unique look
His body seems like it comes from a book.

Began in the Big Apple, but needed opportunity
So he drove out to L. A, the actor's place to be.

As he moves up in this business, I wish him the best
That's all I can say, he must do the rest

E, the grandson, only four years old,
To him the situation cannot be explained or told.

He did not understand why Grandma Fuller laid there
Her eyes closed and her expression bare.

He is very intelligent and listens well
A long story he does not hesitate to tell.

He rides a bike like he has done it for years
His aggressiveness will make you laugh to tears.

Cecil came to the states from St. Thomas
He worked in our store, became family to us

Grandma Fuller was a mother to him
To help the family he went out on a limb.

He visited for hours while she was sick
Silent, said nothing, what made him tick?

His features were distinct of an islander
He had smooth brown skin and small in stature

Avis was the youngest daughter born to her mum
All her life she had been touched with Down's Syndrome.

She knows good and well how to love and have fun
And she types during the day with the light of the sun.

Her hair was slicked back for the funeral
The new suit she wore turned the eyes of all.

The suit was black with contrasting white stitch
Her Mongolian features were obvious and rich.

Jeanetta came although her work was done.
She witnessed the number of breaths being none.

She worked for the hospice company
And proved to be one of their best employees.

She noticed from the beginning how much we cared
Her service will not simply dissolve in the air.

A beautiful lady and sophisticated too,
My grandmother wasn't just another client turned blue.

So here they all gathered at the funeral
The relation to the deceased was different for all

Next they would all observe the service of celebration
This was the reason for the peregrination.

After the funeral was over there was a caravan
To the mausoleum, and there drove every man.

Following this ceremony all released balloons
Slowly they floated; up, up to the moon.

All mourners scattered when the eye could see no more,
They went on with their lives; although hearts still sore.
My Niece
Candace Renee Young
November ‘02
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