Mary Tyler Moore turned the world on with her smile. That's what the opening line to her television theme song went.

Growing up in the 70's, I remember lying down on the linoleum of my living room with my big TV-watching pillow taking in every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I loved Mary. She was so beautiful and had this really cool job that not a lot of women had back then. Now that I think about it, it really helped shape what I wanted to do.

Her charachter, Mary Richards, was the producer at WJM-News, just about unheard of for a woman to have a job like that. She slipped into her position and not only garnered the respect of her male colleagues, they became her friends and her family. Not only on TV, but in real life too. It was a television show about a television show, so if you follow me for a minute, she did this on and off the screen and also on and off the screen. Mary Tyler Moore managed to show that a woman can not only do a job that was once considered a man's job, she did it with professionalism, respect, honesty and friendship.

I'm sure that when she looks at the reruns of her life she will smile and know that she not only lived a good life but that she was such a glowing example of what a woman can do because "with each glance and every little movement" she showed it.

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