Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession. That says everything you need to know about today’s featured Mother.
If you’re of a certain, delicate age, you might remember growing up with the wisdom of Erma Bombeck. She inspired many a aspiring writer to explore family life from a humorous perspective and taught a few of them about the benefits of syndication. "Yay" for syndication.
Erma started her career writing humor for her employer's, Rike’s Store, newsletter. She found that she enjoyed writing, and her college professor encouraged her to continue writing. She did bit pieces for the local newspaper and once interviewed Shirley Temple, but mostly, she was a copygirl.
She met her husband-to-be, Bill Bombeck, while at college.
Once she was married, they were told they would never have children, so they adopted a daughter in 1953. Then she delivered son number one in '56 and son number two in '58. So much for not having children. This is where her life got interesting.
Erma had been puttering around writing a small weekly column for the local paper. Before long, the paper requested some humor from her, so she started writing about being a married mother of small children and living in the Midwest suburbs of Ohio. It only took three weeks of her humor column to go into syndication and hit 36 major newspapers. She wrote the column three times a week and titled it At Wit’s End.
Erma single handedly chronicled life in the United States in the '50s and '60s, and gave people a bird’s eye view of what it was like to raise what we now call Baby Boomers. It was after WWII and the Bombecks lived in a tract home in the suburbs of Centerville, Ohio. She captured the changes in the country; the changes in people; the changes in population and tolerance in real time.
Compilations of Erma’s columns have been published in book form, and she’s written a number of best-selling books like If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, and The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.
Erma was a champion for her college, and she was a staunch supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
In the end, she was published in over 900 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada.
She died of kidney disease in 1996.
Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession – excerpt from Amazon: #1 New York Times best-seller: A hilarious look at one of the toughest jobs on earth, by a writer “with the comic equivalent of perfect pitch”. Anyone who thinks motherhood is easy has never had children.
If you want to see what motherhood looked like in the 1950s and 1960s, then read Erma Bombeck. If you want to see what Hollywood thought motherhood looked like in the 1950s, watch Leave it to Beaver or Ozzie and Harriet. You decide who presented it best.
Erma remains a favorite writer for me to this day, and she was an instrumental part of my desire to continue to write, so here's to Erma.
Some Erma quips:
- When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.
- Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.
- Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
- When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.
Here's to mothers everywhere!
Speaking of talent, while shopping for your Mother's Day gifts, don't forget handmade gift ideas for Mom. Here are some great gift ideas for your Mom, Grandmom, Auntie and anyone else you honor as Mother from some very talented handmade artists.
Cherries Jubilee Lampwork Pendant Necklace Galaxy Globe
Pearl and Heart Charm Bracelet with Swarovski Crystals, Woman Jewelry Gift
Valentine Crystal Bracelet Siam Clear Crystals
Farm Barnyard Scene Desk Clock Handmade From Cherry Wood
Vintage Inspired Bird Music Notes Gift Tags – Set of 12
Red Black Chunky Necklace
Butterfly Pendant Necklace, Cherry Wood And Copper
Bloodwood, Exotic Wood Oval Earrings
Blue Morning Expressions
