My Mentor
At nineteen, I was having a hard time finding my footing in the world. I was floating about with no real aim when my father made me an offer I couldn’t accept. It was a job as a secretary at his place of employment. He was an electrician at PSEG (Public Service Electric and Gas).
My heart sank as I imagined myself shuffling around a generic office while sporting horn-rimmed glasses, a pencil skirt, and the blank stare of a girl who had lost her soul. This image haunted me, and it was my call to “the adventure.”
See, I wanted to be an actress, a movie star—bright lights, palm trees, creative collaborations, the works. I just had no idea how you went about doing that.
My father's deep and caring brown eyes bore into me. I knew I should be grateful but I would rather die than give up my dreams.
I cleared my throat and pushed the words out. "Dad, I don't want to work in your office. I want to be an actress." His expression changed, his eyes searched the ceiling, and when they returned to me, he said, "You should talk to Mickey Muldoon."
Mickey Muldoon was our neighbor. His real name was Mrs. Larkin, and he was an electrician who worked with my father. But he was also an actor.
Mickey Muldoon was the Irish cop in the Palmolive commercial or the doorman in the soap opera. Whenever we spotted him on TV, we would jump off the couch and go screaming around the living room, tossing couch pillows in the air at the sight of him.
Mickey Muldoon went to our church, and one day, I saw my father sitting with him at the coffee fellowship. I walked over and sat with them, waiting for my father to mention that I wanted to be an actress, but he never did. When we got home, I asked, "Why didn't you tell Mr. Larkin?" My dad smiled and simply said, "Maureen, if you want it, you need to ask for yourself."
"But, it's embarrassing. What if he laughs? What if he says it was too hard?"
For several nights I ran fantasies in my head of what could happen if I called Mickey Muldoon. Most of my fantasies were horrible, but the one that really shook me was, what if I die without ever trying?
When I finally got up the nerve to call Mickey Muldoon and confess my dreams of acting. I was delightfully surprised by his response.
"Great, meet me at the train station tomorrow at 3 pm. I have an audition, and you can come and run lines with me."
It was as if he had invited me to walk the moon. We rode the train into NY and read the scenes for his audition. The role was a small part in the movie, "When Harry Met Sally."
Reading audition lines while riding that train alongside a professional actor changed the trajectory of my life. He offered me tips and suggestions and made it all seem possible.
Many years later, I, too, became a professional actor. I was about five years into my career when I found myself getting a divorce. Along with all the major changes that experience brought, I also decided it would be a good time to change my name. I could not go back to my maiden name and could not go forward with my married name. I decided to name myself.
I began to look at other names in my family tree. My father’s mother’s maiden name was Muldoon, which means chief of the fortress. And because it was also the stage name of my very first mentor in showbiz, I felt like it checked every box and rang every bell. And so I became Maureen Muldoon.
In the hero's journey, Mickey would be a helper or mentor. A Character who helps the hero move along on her journey.
Prompt: Write about one of your helpers or mentors.
