Happy Birthday, Nora Ephron!

I do not know very many writers, especially of the lady variety, that do not practically worship Miss Nora Ephron. I did not necessarily want to become a writer because of Ephron, but as I began to consider calling myself one, I realized that every word I put to a page was reminiscent of Ephron’s style.

And what is Ephron style?

Honest. Heartfelt. Hilarious.

“I would have asked for your phone number and I wouldn’t have been able to wait 24 hours before calling and asking, “How about coffee, drinks, dinner, a movie, for as long as we both shall live?”

Romantic. Realistic. Relatable.

“It is so nice when you can sit with someone and not have to talk.”

Fresh. Funny. Straightforward.

Annie: Now that was when people knew how to be in love. They knew it! Time, distance… nothing could separate them because they knew. It was right. It was real. It was– Becky: A movie! That’s your problem! You don’t want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie.

In her time on this Earth, Ephron wrote a handful of books, plenty of movies, and likely hundreds and hundreds of essays. Her voice was her gift: who doesn’t relate to Ephron when reading about her divorce, her love of food, her children, her body?

We lost Ephron last June, but what better day than the day of her birth to celebrate such a phenomenal woman? Her memory surely lives on through the voices of the women she influenced, through the words she wrote on the page, and through the many, many actors and actresses, filmmakers and producers, that she touched throughout her time.

Ephron would have been 72 years old today. Rest in peace, Nora. We’re all watching When Harry Met Sally today!

Featured image via oprah.com,You’ve Got Mail image via vanityfair, When Harry Met Sally image via fashionista, Sleepless in Seattle image via IMDB, quote image via twulibraries, Meryl image via simplystreep.