An Homage To Erma
(Originally written 3/31/02)
Looking through my newspaper the other day, I realized there was something missing. Something important. Now, first of all, you must understand two things about me: #1, I am a little slow sometimes and; #2, as far as I'm concerned there are only three reasons to buy a newspaper. Or, as I like to think of them, the "3-C's" -- Columns, Comics and Coupons. For this reason I rarely venture beyond the Today or Living section of the paper, leaving the duty of slogging through all the actual news to those who still believe their opinions actually matter. If anything really important happens, I know I'll hear about it eventually.
So it is that it only occurred to me last week how much I miss Erma. That's Erma Bombeck to anyone who can't name all four Beatles. For 30 years Erma Bombeck wrote a simple little twice-weekly column that was so enjoyable it ran in almost every major newspaper in the country. Why? Because Erma was real. And, more importantly, Erma spoke to us -- about life and everyday living.
She began her column in the mid-60's and quickly became popular for her home-spun humor. But I believe the main reason she was so popular is that, rather than offering advice or claiming any special "how-to" knowledge, Erma gave us something everyone needs -- humor and understanding; a chance to look at ourselves and laugh; a re-affirmation that we all share essentially the same problems and dilemmas.
Her columns were filled with stories of her everyday life, of living in the suburbs and raising a family in that day and age. True, toward the end, it became less relevant to the changing roles of women, still focusing on being a housewife and speaking as a grandmother and of retirement. But that was okay. She was Erma and could always find the humor in a situation. Even if one did not always understand it immediately. One of her books, The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank cannot be fully appreciated until one has owned a home. Now I have.
Yet, even as a teenager in the 1970's, I enjoyed her "slice-of-life" humor, whether she was commenting on the aggravations of foreign travel or the high price of Medicare and gasoline. Two of her columns that were my personal favorites were, "Letters To My Children," relating a story in which a woman, dying of cancer, had written a letter to each of her grown children, to be read after she died. In each letter the mother began by saying, "Don't tell your siblings this, but you were always my favorite child because..."
That is so Erma.
The other was her "If I had My Life to Live Over" piece which was nothing less than a anthem on how to treasure each day and keep it sacred: "...I would have laughed more and worried less; I would have had more fires in the fireplace and not minded the ash it created..."
Yes, it will be six years this April 22 since Erma left us. Hard to believe. And, while there may be a website on the internet where one can read her collective writing, not to mention her biography, it's but a pale memory of a much treasured person.
If one were asked what value Erma's work had, what subject she wrote about exactly, one would be hard pressed to find an answer. All I know is she often touched a heart and warmed a soul. She made us feel human and reminded us that we were. Thanks, Erma. Your memory will be much honored and cherished.--mo
Looking through my newspaper the other day, I realized there was something missing. Something important. Now, first of all, you must understand two things about me: #1, I am a little slow sometimes and; #2, as far as I'm concerned there are only three reasons to buy a newspaper. Or, as I like to think of them, the "3-C's" -- Columns, Comics and Coupons. For this reason I rarely venture beyond the Today or Living section of the paper, leaving the duty of slogging through all the actual news to those who still believe their opinions actually matter. If anything really important happens, I know I'll hear about it eventually.
So it is that it only occurred to me last week how much I miss Erma. That's Erma Bombeck to anyone who can't name all four Beatles. For 30 years Erma Bombeck wrote a simple little twice-weekly column that was so enjoyable it ran in almost every major newspaper in the country. Why? Because Erma was real. And, more importantly, Erma spoke to us -- about life and everyday living.
She began her column in the mid-60's and quickly became popular for her home-spun humor. But I believe the main reason she was so popular is that, rather than offering advice or claiming any special "how-to" knowledge, Erma gave us something everyone needs -- humor and understanding; a chance to look at ourselves and laugh; a re-affirmation that we all share essentially the same problems and dilemmas.
Her columns were filled with stories of her everyday life, of living in the suburbs and raising a family in that day and age. True, toward the end, it became less relevant to the changing roles of women, still focusing on being a housewife and speaking as a grandmother and of retirement. But that was okay. She was Erma and could always find the humor in a situation. Even if one did not always understand it immediately. One of her books, The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank cannot be fully appreciated until one has owned a home. Now I have.
Yet, even as a teenager in the 1970's, I enjoyed her "slice-of-life" humor, whether she was commenting on the aggravations of foreign travel or the high price of Medicare and gasoline. Two of her columns that were my personal favorites were, "Letters To My Children," relating a story in which a woman, dying of cancer, had written a letter to each of her grown children, to be read after she died. In each letter the mother began by saying, "Don't tell your siblings this, but you were always my favorite child because..."
That is so Erma.
The other was her "If I had My Life to Live Over" piece which was nothing less than a anthem on how to treasure each day and keep it sacred: "...I would have laughed more and worried less; I would have had more fires in the fireplace and not minded the ash it created..."
Yes, it will be six years this April 22 since Erma left us. Hard to believe. And, while there may be a website on the internet where one can read her collective writing, not to mention her biography, it's but a pale memory of a much treasured person.
If one were asked what value Erma's work had, what subject she wrote about exactly, one would be hard pressed to find an answer. All I know is she often touched a heart and warmed a soul. She made us feel human and reminded us that we were. Thanks, Erma. Your memory will be much honored and cherished.--mo
posted by Marige | 6/10/2008 11:22:00 AM
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