Four Women I'd Love To Meet for Lunch

I like to call them my secret mentors - they are the spirited women who have unknowingly influenced me throughout my life with their humor, talent, and independent souls. Have you ever thought about what spirited women you'd love to meet for lunch, a lovely conversation, and a few laughs if you had the opportunity? 

"God created man, but I could do better."  Beloved humor columnist Erma Bombeck wrote hilarious and openly honest essays about life as a mother, wife, and woman for over thirty years and, as a result, helped women from all walks of life see the funny side of ironing, raising children, and watching themselves age in the mirror. I can't imagine a better way to spend an hour than with the woman who once wrote, "I never leaf through a copy of National Geographic without realizing how lucky we are to live in a society where it is traditional to wear clothes."

As a young girl, I remember watching Phyllis Diller doing stand-up routines on variety shows with her outrageous outfits and crazy hair that looked like it had been combed with an eggbeater. What I recall most about her besides her one-of-a-kind laugh is the one-liners she spewed constantly about her five children such as, "I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them." Her jokes about turning older were hysterical, "You know you're old if your walker has an airbag." Through her amazing sense of humor, Phyllis Diller was the first woman who taught me that laughing at myself could be really, really fun.

Carol Burnett is the only actress I know who could yell like Tarzan and sing like a bird--all during an hour-long variety show. Who doesn't remember the time she came out on stage dressed as Scarlett O'Hara, but put her Carol Burnett twist on it and wore an outfit made of drapes with the curtain rod still attached? I decided as a teenager that once I got married, I might never become pregnant when I heard her say, "Giving birth is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head."  Carol Burnett had the biggest influence on me as a young woman. She once commented, "When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." 

Novelist Maya Angelou has overcome much in her lifetime, yet she still inspires others with such words as, "Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'" Maya Angelou has the kind of spirit that makes me want to phone her to share my greatest news, knowing that she will also be there to provide encouragement when I need it most. She radiates inner-strength as she talks slowly and carefully, giving the impression that every word she utters is honest and thoughtful. Maya once said, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." A profound life lesson for anyone.

My dream lunch companions all possess strong, adventuresome spirits sprinkled with tremendous senses of humor. Each one of these spirited women have taught me that when you laugh often, life becomes so much more fun.

What spirited woman would you like to meet for lunch?

- Vicky De Coster - www.wackywomanhood
Click here for more of Vicky's posts.

Comments

[Alice]

Rosa Parks - she was courageous.

My great grandmother Miriam who I was named for. She is the only great grandmother of mine who I did not meet. She died when my mom was 12.

Clara Barton - she started the Red Cross.

[Susan von Detten]

Please contact me at svdetten@aol.com

Thanks!

Susan von Detten

[Susan von Detten]

I would love to have lunch with any interested women in the Los Angeles area. I am a woman living here in the fast-paced, rat race life that is L.A. I don't have many women friends, and this is something that I greatly miss. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!!

[May Lattanzio]

Carmen Miranda - the Brazilian actress/singer/dancer who wore piles of fruit on her head all through the '40s. She was, I understand, as full of fire offstage as she was on. And she was into jewelry and shoes (and also shoulder pads). No way we would have a quiet lunch with her around.

Birute Galdikas-Brindamour, one of Louis Leakey's three "Angels", who took herself off to the jungles of Borneo to study and provide sanctuary to the orangutans, married a tribesman, and created the foundation to save these animals.

Betsy Ross, who created the first flag of the colonies which became the United States. When did she make time in her day to do it; from where did the fabric come? Did she volunteer for the job? Who created the design? Did she sew by lamplight? During the day? How would she describe the honor placed literally in her hands?

Shirley MacLain - because she's led such an interesting, spiritual life and exudes talent in so many directions. I think she would be fascinating at lunch or at any other time.

If I could, I'd want you to meet my old friend, Mary. Mary died 15 or so years ago, but she was the personification of courage and spirit, and to me, a role model. She had been a double amputee from the time she was 14 months old. She grew up in a normal house where if you didn't keep up, you got lost in the shuffle. She did anything - everything. Drove trucks, broke horses, rode horses, had a goat herd, could repair things and find uses for items and make do to remarkable ends.
She danced. Had two marriages, lived and loved hard. And then expired from a sudden onset of lung cancer. I miss her. You would have enjoyed her company.

Margaritas, anyone?

[Claire]

My list is going to be a bit varied. Carol Burnett & Erma Bombeck definitely - Coco Chanel would be added in just because of her spunk and determination in a time where women should not have had that. Though she is long gone - she was definitely spirited.

The fourth may surprise you...Emily Dickinson. Her boldness in expression, and her knack for not settling for conformity amazes me.

[Therese Guy]

Vicky, in the humor department I would have to go with you and pick Carol Burnett and Erma Brombeck. I would add you and say how about lunch sometime?
I would definately add in the strength department Helen Keller.Her deeds were heroic and her words of wisdom a wellspring of inspiration. Elanor Roosevelt proved that there is beauty in strength of character.