Aunt Erma’s Cope Book courtesy of Amazon
“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.'” – Erma Bombeck
I celebrated my 30th birthday this week (eek! A whole new decade!), and I thought this was a good opportunity to recognize a pretty fantastic journalist and author who also has a February birthday, a woman who made a difference for authors everywhere, especially female authors. This woman is Erma Bombeck.
I I grew up reading Bombeck’s hilarious schtick on family life and life in general. My mom had a collection of Bombeck’s books, and I remember pulling them off the shelves at a fairly young age and reading them out loud to my mom while she made dinner. Bombeck had an optimistic and offbeat way of looking at everything and finding humor even in tragic circumstances. Bombeck was also part of the Presidential Advisory Committee for Women that supported the Equal Rights Act in the 1970s. As a result of this involvement, many of Bombeck’s books were pulled from shelves of local bookstores.
One of my favorite quotes of hers is the one above. I hope we can all be reminded that every day is a gift of time to use our talent productively. I now have a whole new decade to use productively (still can’t believe I’m now a thirty-something! Egad!).
Have you ever read any of Erma Bombeck’s books? And do you have any advice for newly minted 30-year-olds?
P.S. Speaking of using our talent productively, there’s a fantastic/evil app for that, Write or Die.
Novel Conclusions 