my mother couldn t take the winters so every november my family would go to miami beach and live for maybe four months and then come back to detroit. and my parents would take me out of school and take me to a new school in florida. i couldn t get attached anywhere. i overate constantly. we had a pantry in the kitchen with tons of food. she used to call that her room. she would sit there on that step stool and just munch.
that s like a pivotal age when you re going from being a child into a woman, so i just never went into being a woman. and i started going to an all-girls private school. there was more emphasis being funny and being involved in activities like the theater department than there was on dating, so i was encouraged that way. and the more comfortable i got, the funnier i got. in ann arbor, i suddenly
whatever she was doing, but debbie was the constant she was a kind, wonderful person and, you know, we thought of her as our second mother. debbie and i became inseparable. when i would come home crying because someone called me fat at school, she would tell me, if they call you fat, just make a joke about it and laugh. i made them laugh before they hurt me, before anyone could go hey, you fat thing, i would say hey, i m fat. i can t see my toes, you know. and then i realized what comedy is. it s hitting on the truth before the other guy thinks of it.