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It felt different this year, and I worried that my third "official" Erma would not match up to the others where I laughed and cried and fell exhausted into bed at night.

I worried that I would miss a couple of my favorite presenters; I worried that my flights wouldn't get there or home on time; I worried that I would contract that awful flu before or during those few days and I would have to listen to the gaiety from my room. And most of all I worried that I wouldn't be as inspired or hopeful. I worried for naught.

For those two years in between conferences, we attendees friend more and more of each other on Facebook, which not only exposes us to funny and unique writing but also to funny and unique personalities. There are many days their posts are writing prompts and I pounce on them like that first glass of wine after a rough day.

For weeks in the fall, we read about deadlines and mark our calendars as if they were the Rapture or the Apocalypse. Yes, we go about our routines, marking birthdays and holidays, but the sign-up day looms large in our psyche as December approaches. We fret and then we relax, until, oh, early March when we count down the days together. The Newbies (aka the Virgins) are overwhelmed by our excitement, and it is contagious. My son and family were visiting for spring break the week before, and I smiled every time I spied my airline reservation.

Terry Sykes-Bradshaw and I arranged to be on the same flights from Fort Myers, but not as seat mates. I read and reread the session schedule as the cute woman next to me dozed. She awoke when the pilot announced our landing and she introduced herself as Lauretta Hannon - one of our presenters! We were lost in conversation when we noticed we were holding up others trying to deplane. Naturally, I had to attend one of her sessions and have her sign her book, Cracker Queen: A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life.

The remodeled Marriott lobby was strikingly sleek, but the lounge area was again filled with lovely chatter and I immediately recognized some faces, even without the name tags. One of the attendees did a remarkable and clever job of welcoming the Virgins with their own stickers and labels. It made it easy and fun for us to make them comfortable. (By the way the nicest synonym for non-virgin is "cultivated." All others are...well, akin to evil. Yikes.)

Thursday cocktails and dinner were as raucous as usual and again, I took a deep breath (and a sip of my pinot noir) as I gazed around this crowd of funny wannabes worshiping the woman responsible for our being there. I have always been in awe of Patricia Wynn Brown's ease as she calmly emcees these huge gatherings without losing a beat (and she dances, as well, you know!) She didn't disappoint and neither did any of the charming and hilarious daily and nightly speakers at our meals, especially Rita, Wendy and Monica. Y'all should have warned us to wear Depends!

Seriously, though, amongst the humor were hours of sessions of writing prompts, publishing advice, social media lessons and pitching ideas. I was disappointed when I wasn't chosen at Pitchapalooza. I was even mouthing and timing my pitch waiting for my name to be called, even though I knew, mathematically, the chances were slim. However, I did buy The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published and will contact Arielle (Ecstut) and David (Henry Sterry) soon with my incredibly wonderful idea, if I say so myself.

The highlight of the conference for me? Seeing and holding and reading parts of Laugh Out Loud, sitting at a special table with some of my fellow writers and being recognized by our peers for our contributions, thanks to Allia Zobel Nolan. Some of us missed the group photo in the outer room that night, but Allia somehow managed to include photos of us lost souls. I am hoping to see announcements of book signings all over the country on Facebook. Of course, I suggested we have them in bars.

Merci, Gracias, Danke again to Teri Rizvi and her wonderful crew, the Bombeck family, the University of Dayton and the Dayton Marriott.

We came; we saw; we kicked a** - Virgins and Non alike. Who needed Craig Ferguson when we had the best speakers/comedians/storytellers ever?

See you in 2020.

- Yvonne Ransel

Yvonne Ransel is a writer of essays - some humorous, some poignant - who is inspired by life's crazy, everyday events. She was a librarian, then a bar owner, now a librarian again. She survived the '60s and the millenium and the years in between as mother, wife and now grandmother of six. She is one of 40 women humorists whose essays are featured in Laugh Out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now...Before We Forget, the workshop's first book project in collaboration with Allia Zobel Nolan.