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“I don’t mind if you shove an umbrella up my ass, but when you open it, you’ve gone too far.”
    That’s why I love that woman!
    Whatever was going down with the network, though, didn’t affect the camaraderie that still existed on our stage. Within the world of The Nanny it was a time of expressions of love and gratitude. We who’d worked so hard and given our all for the show sa-vored each and every moment we had left. There were many hugs and deep, tearful talks among us. We drank everything in so we wouldn’t forget how glorious it all once was. We knew something very special, very precious, and extremely rare was about to end.

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    Friends
    A p r i l 1 9 9 9
    by the time we shot the final episode of the series my life had taken on a very different shape than at the time of the premiere episode six years earlier. The contrast was stunning; I often found it hard to believe myself. It was a bittersweet time to say the least. I didn’t know what my life would be like without the husband and the show. As long as I had The Nanny to keep me busy day after day, week in and week out, I never felt true loneliness; nor did I have the opportunity to experience what being on my own was really like.
    When the MTV pilot hadn’t gotten picked up a few months earlier, I was disappointed, but a little relieved, too. Honestly, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to service both shows at the same time anyway. But when we were told The Nanny wouldn’t be returning for a seventh season, I called MTV and asked if we could retest the pilot if I edited it differently.
    So during those final weeks of The Nanny, John and I tried to resurrect the pilot. I liked sitting in the editing room with him.
    Although I’d mostly been dating younger men, I really never got any vibe from him that he was attracted to me. However, it was 9377 Cancer Schmancer 2/28/02 4:18 PM Page 36
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    Cancer Schmancer
    during this time that we gradually became friends. I started planning group events with some friends from the show who all had fun partying together, John included. Everyone liked to dance and have a good time.
    At the end of work, when the whistle blew, I needed to let loose. Often we’d pile into a limo so no one would drink and drive, then head out to a club or a restaurant for the night. I just loved being around this circle of friends. For me it recaptured a youth I felt I’d never truly experienced.
    Am I too old to be acting this way? I wondered sometimes. I know I’ve always looked younger than I am, but some of these folks were twenty-five. We all got along so well and had so much in common, though, that age was never a factor. I guess it was right for me at the time.
    I became closer to my cousin Erica, who worked on The Nanny.
    Our mothers are sisters, and it’s nice to have family in L.A. Then there was this gal, Jill, who lived next door to me at the beach.
    When I met “good neighbor Jill,” as I nicknamed her, I liked her right away. She became one of the first good friends I made outside of my marriage. She was single, fun, and high energy.
    Erica, Jill, and I went to the Super Bowl in Miami a few years ago. We had so much fun people-watching and partying it up in South Beach. One night we found ourselves in a club with k.d.
    lang and Queen Latifah, cheering on Cher, who was lip-synching to her new single, “Believe.” I was psyched to meet her, since I’d always felt a certain connection to her.
    In therapy I’d often talk about Cher. She, too, had been in a famous marriage that began when she was very young. I didn’t know her, but for some reason I identified with her. At first, when she and Sonny broke up, she seemed to have it all and be right in the center of things, but as the years went on, I thought she seemed lonely. I’m sure I was probably projecting my own fears of 9377 Cancer Schmancer 2/28/02 4:18 PM Page