Bombeck. Erma Bombeck.

I've always loved laughing. When I was a child, my father introduced me to Laurel and Hardy. To this day I can still remember the first time I watched Stanley create "another fine mess" by rolling a piano over Oliver. I was instantly hooked. When my dad dragged home that rented VCR every Tuesday night (we couldn't afford one yet) with a Laurel and Hardy video just for me, it was better than Christmas.

As I grew older, funny old movies turned into funny books. In my early teens I discovered the brilliance of Erma Bombeck! She found the humor in everyday life. At the age of 13 I didn't care that she was writing about motherhood and being a housewife, (things I could hardly relate to at the time) I wanted to be just like her! Recently I stumbled upon an old Erma quote, "When my children were younger, I figured out there were two kinds of mothers: those who dragged themselves out of a warm bed and put nutritious chili in a wide-mouth thermos, and those who stuck a stick of gum and a picture of The Virgin Mary in a sack with instructions to "Trade up!" This quote reminded me how much I loved her humor and writing.

As it turns out, Erma's passion is still alive.
I found a web site about an annual Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. I was pretty excited to see what new humor writers are putting out there these days! You can only imagine my surprise to read THIS. This girl won first place? I was stunned. Is this a high school competition? Poor Erma. If this is the best we have, maybe we should just toss out the baby with the bathwater! I miss Erma.