If I Had My Life To Live Over

If I Had My Life To Live Over

The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck 

sometime after she found out she had kidney disease.

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

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I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.

© Erma Bombeck

Who was Erma Bombeck?

Erma was born on February 21, 1927, to a working family living in Ohio. Her father died when she was nine years old, and she, along with her mother, moved to her grandmother's home. Her mother remarried two years later. 

Erma entered school when she was five years old, and quickly became an avid reader and accomplished student. She especially enjoyed reading the popular humor writers at her time. When Erma entered Emerson Junior High School in 1940, she began writing a humorous column for its newspaper, The Owl.

In 1949, she converted to Catholicism, and married Bill Bombeck, a veteran of the World War II Korean front. The Bombecks were told by doctors that having children was improbable, and they adopted a little girl named Betsy in 1953. Erma decided to become a full-time housewife, and her writing mostly went by the wayside--besides writing a series of columns in the Dayton Shopping News. They later had two sons, one born in 1955, the other in 1958.

In 1964 Erma Bombeck resumed writing weekly columns in her small bedroom for the local Kettering-Oakwood Times. Her writing career grew, and her articles were featured in 36 major U.S. newspapers. By 1978, 900 U.S. newspapers were publishing Bombeck's columns.

Erma Bombeck had been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (a congenital defect) when she was 20 years old, but managed to live most of her life without any problems from it. She had a mastectomy in 1992 after being diagnosed with breast cancer and in 1996, she was brought to a San Francisco hospital for a kidney transplant, which was performed on April 3, 1996. However, complications developed and she died on April 22, 1996, aged 69.

Above information found on the Wikipedia.org article.

NOTE: We do not necissarily endorse Erma's articles. The above is an exception.