I am extremely grateful for two big gifts from my father. First, my sense of humor - the ability to see the humor in something while it is happening. That has cushioned my life. I am also grateful for the work of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It has enriched my life and made me a very different person.

Living with these teenage boys allowed me to see how much their psyches were like their girl counterparts. They were more familiar to me than I would have thought.

It's because it was at a time when women didn't have any power. It was so unusual for a young woman in her 20s to have power that I seized the power but tried not to flaunt it.

Every child deserves a chance at a life filled with love, laughter, friends and family. We are working to find the cures that will give these youngsters a fighting chance. When a child or parent faces an uncertain disease like cancer, they can find hope at St. Jude - a place where miracles can and do happen.

Women have to make a living. We don't live in a wealthy world where we even have a choice. We're losing our choice of whether or not we need to work. If we want to work, we obviously should work and have that choice, but a lot of women can't even get to the word "want." They need to work. And it's great to see women who needed to work and found a way to become a firefighter or a steel worker. That, to me, is very exciting.

One woman is a pest and two women is a team, but three women or more is a coalition. If you can bring a lot of people together as a coalition, you can get a lot changed.

I wish someone would have told me that, just because I'm a girl, I don't have to get married.