My dear friend,

It has been so long since we last talked. How are you doing? You may be wondering as to why
I am writing to you out of the blue, and that is to tell you my story. As I hope you remember, I
was a boxer. But after I broke my hand in the ring, I was forced to give up boxing. This was
such a relief for my wife, Mae, as she could not bear to watch the violence in my job; however,
we both knew that because of my broken hand, it would also become one of our greatest
burdens. My boxing was the only way we could pay for heat, light, food, water, electricity, and
shelter, as well as provide for our children. I remember I had to go to the relief office one day to
ask for money in order to pay for the heat. The women at the office said to me that she never
expected to see me there.

Everything went downhill after that. Our children became sick, and Mae sent them away to live
with our other family members. Of course, I wasn’t going to let that happen and so I went to my
manager and friend, Joe and asked for money to pay for the rent as well as electricity, food and
water. Fortunately, I was able to bring our children back as well. Because of the Great
Depression, I had to work long hours as a longshore man; manual labour. I received little pay,
and I couldn’t even work there everyday. They would choose between 6 to 7 workers each day.
With my hand injured, I knew there was a disadvantage, but I was able to cover up my cast with
shoe polish. One night, Joe came and told me that there was a last-minute cancellation at a
game, and needed me to fill in. I had to face Corn Griffin, and throughout the whole battle, what
motivated me? It was my family. Every move I made was through motivation of family. I had
to win to earn the money, so I could provide for my family and that’s what I did. I had won the
game against Corn Griffin, and also became more proficient with fighting with my left hand; as
my right hand was still broken. When my “comeback story” got out, the sportswriter Damon
Runyon nicknamed me, "The Cinderella Man", and before long I came to represent the hopes
and aspirations of the American public that struggled with the Depression.

My final game was against Max Baer. Mae was terrified as she knew that he was the champion,
and was viscous, and had reportedly killed two men in the ring. She drove to her sisters to drop
off our children, then went to the church to pray for me. She had also come to visit me as well. I
knew that I couldn’t lose everything again; which included my wife, my kids, our money, and
home, and so I used that to motivate me to win. And as you may have heard on the news as well,
my dear old friend, I won the championship. It’s been a nice talk and I hope to talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

Jim Braddock