Melissa looks back at a turning point conversation, one that left her family unprepared for the troubles ahead, and whether pressing for an answer to one question might have changed everything.

It seems she didn't know it was a turning point until it was too late. Don't you hate it when that happens?

It’s her best cocktail party story, about the first time she went into New York City alone. She was newly divorced and feeling pretty good about it, right up until a stranger gave her two black eyes and a group of Good Samaritans got too wrapped up in the answer to the question, “Is anyone here with you?”

The answer was no.

Which, until about 30 seconds earlier, had been the whole point.

In “Head First,” Melissa revisits the day a small act of independence got unexpectedly literal and left her wondering if being on her own was, in fact, going to bring her to her knees. 

In this episode of the new chapter of Gen X Jersey, she looks back on the secret her husband asked her to keep, the help he refused and her decision not to tell anyone. A year later, the problem returned far more seriously, leaving her to question what her silence may have cost.

Against the end of a 22-year marriage, Melissa reflects on what it means to promise “in sickness and in health,” then lose the right to see that promise through. She shares what it felt like to stand outside the crisis, caught between guilt, relief and resentment while someone else became the person beside him.

In this episode of this new chapter of Gen X Jersey, she shares the deeply personal story behind her writing, and why she's still willing to play the long game. Melissa grew up believing that you did the work first. You wrote the book, recorded the album, built the business or learned the craft. Then, if the work was good enough, you found an audience.

Today, the order is reversed, they expect you to build an audience before you get support for your body of work. She shares why she still believes in the traditional publishing path and why Gen X Jersey is the place where the stories behind her new book can be told first.

These early experiences drove the habits that led Melissa to become the writer, music lover, foodie, traveler, and observer she is today.

If you have something to say about anything in this episode, or if you’d like to share your own chapter, call 732-455-9155.

And don’t forget, Melissa brings the soundtrack to life on her companion radio show, Gen X Jersey, Wednesday nights at 10PM on Radio Garden State. Tune in for a playlist curated to match this chapter, or find the “Gen X Jersey” playlists on Amazon Music anytime.