Whoever photobombed Erma and me at the 2026 “Woodstock of Humor,” on the Dayton Riviera, doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
When I returned back home in Indiana from the 2026 Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, I scrolled through my photos. I started with the final leg on Saturday with photos of my new besties, the standup acts, and a closeup of the chocolate cake. I loved my photo of Friday’s keynote speaker Ann Garvin, who showed us the x-ray of her broken leg and said, “Find the people that will cheer for you when you are struggling AND when you succeed.” By the time I got to the photos from the day I arrived at the Marriott, I needed to shake a leg if I was going to get my laundry done. Just one last photo.
I screamed. My traditional photo had been ruined. Every year since 2022, I pose with the poster of Erma at her IBM typewriter, the one where her head is turned as if she is welcoming me back to the EBWW. Someone had posed BEHIND the poster on the easel. No face, no torso. Erma and I had been photobombed by a pair of legs wearing black flats.
Yes, I know that registration table is a public place. Anyone could have intruded on our moment together. But those legs spoiled the background of just Erma and me, and in memory of my mom who had Erma’s column on her refrigerator door. It had always been just a photo of Erma and me. Erma and I were besties.
Did those legs do it on purpose? Or did someone I know decide to pull Erma’s leg? I would print wanted posters, asking anyone in the vicinity of the registration table on Thursday afternoon to help me crack the case. I think I would recognize those female legs anywhere in a lineup. Drag in some suspects, order them to toe the line, and let me point her out. “There she is! The guilty party that cost me an arm and legs from my moment with my Erma.”
I inhaled, exhaled, and calmed down. Erma would think it was hilarious and would make some joke about “the perils of pantyhose.” Then I examined the photo. The legs were positioned right under the poster. It was if Erma’s torso now had legs.
Didn’t Erma’s stories always have legs? Her columns have lasted and have remained relevant over all these years. She knows me, and more importantly, Erma knew my mom. I never refuse dessert, housework kills me, and the dryer hides my socks. According to Erma, God had a special design in the creation of mothers and that applied to my mom.
Yes, Erma and I were photobombed. The image only brought out the truth all along. Erma’s legacy has legs.
—Glenda Ferguson
Glenda Ferguson, from Paoli, Indiana, performed standup at the 2024 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Comedy Night. Her most recent stories are in Animal Mayhem and Chicken Soup for the Soul: I Can’t Stop Laughing.