Live Chat
Get a Card
My Account
Catalog
Website
Events
Catalog
Access My Account
Vega Discover Catalog
Classic Catalog
Account Questions
Get a Library Card
Research
Online Resources
Online Learning
Ask a Librarian
Book a Librarian
Services
COVID Tests
Creativity Commons
Curbside Pickup
Hotspot Lending
Interlibrary Loan
Internet Access
Laptop Lending
Library App
Meeting Rooms
Outreach Services
Passports
Patron Supplies
Printing, Scanning, Copying, Faxing
Reading Suggestions
Seniors
Speakers Bureau
Teachers
Test Proctoring
Voter Registration
Collections
New Arrivals
eCollection
Books
Audiobooks
Movies & Music
Newspapers & Magazines
Maker Kits
Board Games
'Brary Bags
Launchpads for Kids
Read Alongs
Book of Kells
Rokus
Recommend a Purchase
Programs
Calendar of Events
Authors & Writers
Book Discussions
Adult Education
Job Training & Networking
Make It Programs
Storytimes
Early Literacy
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
Speakers Bureau
Eclipses
Exhibits
Digital Escape Rooms
Ghost Walk
Erma Bombeck Writing Competition
Good Life Writing Contest
Volksmarch
Kids
Storytime
Get Creative Crafts
Heads in Books
Super Readers
Summer Reading Club
Kids Events
Tail Waggin' Tutors
goodREADS Kids!
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
Nature Literature Trails
'Brary Bags
Curious Kids
Maker Kits for Kids
Teens
Teen Home
Teen Programs
Book Clubs
goodREADS@WCPL Teens
Personalized Reading List
Suggest a Teen Item
Summer Reading Club
Teen Advisory Board
About
Contact Us
Locations / Hours
Get a Card
Library News
Borrowing Guide
Policies & Rules
Employment
About the Library
Board of Trustees
Friends of WCPL
Annual Report
Donations
Value Calculator
Welcome to the Library!
Library Home
>
Erma Bombeck Writing Competition
>
Winning Entries
Erma
Bombeck
Writing
Competition
"Hook 'em with the lead. Hold 'em with laughter. Exit with a quip they won't forget." ˜ Erma Bombeck
The Erma Bombeck Writing Competition opens on December 4, 2023, at 8 A.M. (EST)!
2016 Honorable Mention - Human Interest - Global
"The Kids' Table" - Written By: Marti Benson Smith - Colorado Springs, CO, United States
Grief has a way of turning us into unwitting mathematicians. Last Thanksgiving, for example, marked seven years and ten days since my oldest brother passed; four years, six months and 17 days since I lost Mom; and one year, nine months and 27 days since Dad died. 768 miles separated me from my sister, and a million feelings distanced me from my remaining brother. Last Thanksgiving, however, my husband’s family multiplied. In addition to his parents and three siblings, their spouses and offspring, eight others joined the ranks—a new husband, two serious boyfriends, two childhood friends (and their dog), two neighbors and a co-worker. Twenty-three of us were gathered at my in-laws’ spacious home.
For the past several years—six, to be exact— I seated myself at these family get-togethers between the two people who dutifully respected my melancholy. To my left was my husband, Kyle— who sought my hand under the table when someone inadvertently asked about my family’s holiday plans. To my right, was my mother-in-law whose gentle attentiveness kept me from otherwise tracing the names of my losses in the fine layer of dust accumulating on my bereavement.
I hadn’t counted on being relegated to the Kids’ Table at that epic gathering. The youngsters—now twenty-somethings—commandeered the adult table, delving into conversations about sky-high rent and newly-minted careers. The 34-inch square folding table—once the domain of those whippersnappers— was now occupied with four of us quinquagenarians bumping knees. I listened wistfully as my husband, his brother and youngest sister gleefully recounted youthful capers. I ached to have my own family intact. Maybe it was the geography—away from grown-up responsibilities at the big table; or perhaps it was the chardonnay, but Kyle dropped an ice cube down his sister’s back. The rusty lid on the childhood toy box heaved open; the familial gauntlet was thrown—and fifty became the new ten. Our shenanigans interrupted the weighty conversations at the bigger table. As my sister-in-law fended off the ice cube, I wrested myself from the frosty clutch of the Grim Reaper that afternoon to become a sibling amongst siblings; to act—as someone at the big table suggested—like a child. Did we concoct bawdy figures with our food? Did we tell ribald jokes? Did we lob cranberries at each other? I can’t tell you because, as we all pinky-swore, “what happens at the Kids’ Table, stays at the Kids’ Table.” The New Math for happiness, however, was to set aside my weary calculator and start over counting life’s simple blessings-- one sticky finger at a time.
Quick
Links
Get Involved
Donate
Friends of WCPL
Volunteer
Have Fun!
Programs & Events
Nature Literature Trails
Little Free Libraries
Services
Get a Library Card
Download the Library App
Reserve a Meeting Room
About
Contact Us
Employment
Policies & Privacy