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Have you ever laughed so hard that you had to clutch your gut and gasp for breath?

For three days straight?

That was me and about 350 others at Destination Hilarity, formally known as the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, a veritable laugh-in and love-in for humor writers (mostly women). With so many giggles, guffaws, belly laughs and woo-hoos, my stomach muscles are still crying for mercy.

Spend three days surrounded by awesome comedic talent and a bundle of good cheer and this is what happens. While your stomach is in stitches, you fall in love.

My bra-mance with Erma and all the Bombeckians took flight, like lovebirds soaring, and I am still swooning.

Now, I didn't expect the tone of this conference to be serious. Of course not. But I couldn't have imagined being thrown into paroxysms of glee for three days straight. I think I was even chuckling in my sleep (my roommate Lois Alter Mark can attest to that).

The quality of the workshops was amazing. We learned about writing and editing and publishing, about finding your voice and writing concisely and perfecting your words until they gleam like polished silver.

Erma was all about finding the humor in everyday life. She found a treasure trove of material in her very own household. This was the lesson echoed by every presenter: the source of your material is right there. You just have to condense it into a nugget, and make it sing.

There is nothing in life that can't be massaged into a piece of humor, keynoter Lisa Scottoline told us, and regaled us with so many funny stories about her family.

She also shared with us that her mother had gone into Hospice, suddenly, and Lisa was cutting her time at the conference short so she could go home to be with her.

And that was the other piece of this conference: pathos.

Amid the laughter there were tears. For Lisa's mother. For Erma Bomeck's untimely demise, which Phil Donahue described so eloquently. For Mary Lou Quinlan's moving tribute to her mother, her greatest cheerleader.

I am still processing everything I learned, all the emotions I felt. And I can't wait to apply all of it to my writing.

Takeaways from the Erma Conference

10. It is good to have cake at every meal and snacks twice a day. And the Marriott and University of Dayton get (gluten-free) brownie points for trying really hard to please those of us with food restrictions.

9. Erma keynoters rock. Each one was funny, warm, polished and down-to-earth. And good looking, of course.

8. As a newbie, I wasn't sure how I'd fit in. Can I tell you that this was the nicest, friendliest group of conference-goers I've ever been with?

7. Generosity of spirit and wisdom. That pretty much sums up every presenter.

6. Watching others pitch their books filled me with admiration for their talent - and the chutzpah it took to get up there in front of the crowd. I will try to do this at the next Erma conference.

5. The message that Erma said turned her life around: "You can write!" Erma went through the same self-doubts of most writers, but she took these words to heart.

4. Phil Donahue set the tone for the conference with his warm and funny tribute to Erma. Phil looks the same, talks the same and was total perfection.

3. Just as I thought that nothing could surpass Phil's extraordinary keynote, along came Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serratella, blowing me away with their wit, writing smarts and sheer likeability.

2. The presence of Erma, as each keynoter and presenter kept her spirit alive in their comments. There were references to her throughout: her comic genius, how she blazed a trail, and as Phil said, "She wasn't the first. She was the only."

1. Meeting new friends I have gotten to know online - and reconnecting with those I've met before - priceless.

Erma once said, "If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it."

Erma, you were with us every minute. You would have been proud. Thank you for showing us the way.

-Helene Cohen Bludman

Helene Cohen Bludman blogs at Books is Wonderful about the quirks of midlife, parenting adult children, modern culture and, or course, books. She left a career in marketing to become a full-time writer.