6 A.M., her phone blares a loud obnoxious wake up call
She rises to call her teenage daughter,
Who is asleep in the next room
After waking up her once-responsible daughter, she closes her eyes
And drifts back into Dreamland
Half-hour later she finally wakes up,
Wishing she had just a couple more minutes of relaxation and sleep
But the day must start,
And it’s time to get ready and go to work

She hurries to her shiny black Saturn Vue, which she still is struggling to pay off,
And speeds off to work
Running late because her daughter left it up to her mother
To make her lunch
Finally she arrives at work
9:43 A.M., late again
Her fat boss storms into her office
“Late again?!” That’s the 3rd time this week! If you want to keep your job, you better

Get your s**t together!”
The job she once loved to have
Now is a warzone thanks to her hotheaded Italian boss
She fights back tears and presses on through the day
5:00, it’s time to go home
Head down, she moseys on to her car
And drives home
Another day at work,
Means another meal on the table
And for her, that’s worth all that she puts up with

5:52, she turns onto the street of Hersey High School, her daughter’s school
After a hard day at work the last thing she wants to do
Is jump and cheer with the other parents at her daughter softball game
It’s her daughter’s last home game, senior night
Oh no, she thinks. She must smile and take a picture
To put on a smile at a time like this
As always, she puts on a brave face and deals with it
“Not everything can always go your way,” she says to herself
Click, the picture is taken
She can go back and sit on the bench
Alone once again
But sometime it’s what she prefers
The score is 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Hersey losing
2 outs, her daughter is up to bat
She uses the last bit of energy she has to cheer
Nervous for her daughter
Base runner 2nd,
Her daughter hits a hard line drive out to right-center
The girl on 2nd base scores, the game is tied up
She prays for the next batter to bring in just one more runner
So the game doesn’t go into extra innings
And she can go home to her comfy bed,
The only thing that seems good to her right now
Hard hit up to middle
Her daughter rounds 3rd base, headed for home
The ball flying to the plate right behind the runner
She stands up and begins to scream and cheer
Her daughter slides into home, beating the ball, Hersey wins
She suddenly smiles and everything feels okay
Her rough day is beginning to fade from her memory
After seeing the million-watt smile on her daughter’s face
She may not have anything, but she has her daughter
That is enough to keep her going