One, make that two, in a million!

Is it just ME, or do you, too, recall the name “Dear Abby” for as long as you can remember?

I can vividly recall my Grandmother eagerly awaiting the arrival of the daily paper as it was tossed upon the bottom of the driveway.  I can still actually hear the unique sound it made; THUD!

A quick glance at the front AND back pages…then it was off to the “Dear Abby” column.  It was a ritual.

Pauline Phillips, A/K/A “Dear Abby” was laid to rest this week.  After a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, this icon of a contributing editor died at the age of 94.

Long before it was fashionable – perhaps even acceptable, Abby and her twin sister, Anne Landers , who died in 2002,  stepped out of their kitchens and onto the kitchen tables of millions of devoted readers in the United States and ultimately around the world.  They were pioneers; it was the 1950s.

While they both had their personal slant and style, they were each successful, admired, and followed.  It is said they paved the way for the likes of Oprah, Dr. Phil, news-women in all capacities, and the list goes on and on…. you go girls!

Hearing of Dear Abby’s passing has given me cause to stop and think.  Here’s what I think… it wasn’t just their dueling columns (there were years of estrangement between the twin sisters – sad!) that made the two women successful.  It was two women who dared to lead.  They took a chance; now they have taken their places in history.

I never read a column that either one wrote! I am, however, grateful that they set the stage for generations of women to come and let us know it is OK to dare, to risk, to hold your breath and jump.  It’s OK! 

Outcomes can never be guaranteed but history was never made sitting down and just thinking about it.  Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s a step toward it.  Failure after failure means you have continued to try – that’s success in and of itself!

I love hearing stories - old and new – that remind me of what others have done before that make it possible to dare to believe that our dreams stand a chance  - but only when we wake up from the dream, stand up and take that first step.  If that leads you to your first failure - you’re getting closer!

Two young girls from Siuox City, Iowa (United States) didn’t just change their lives, they changed ours, too – even if you never wrote-in a question or took their advice.  They networked their way to success before “networking” was ever used in the context we understand it to mean today.

There were no computers, no e-mailing, and no “instant” anything.   They had a dream, a goal, great mentorship from their parents, willingness to try, great work ethic, and passion to put it all together.  IT WORKED – BECAUSE THEY WORKED IT!  

So, IS it just me, or do feel a bit of gratitude to two grand dames who blew the whistle that helped many of us start to run our own race?

If I were going to write-in a question or comment to

Dear Abby or Ann Landers, it would be short and sweet:

      Dear Ann Landers,                                      Dear Abby,

                How did you do it?                                      Thanks for doing it!

     In appreciation,                                           With gratitude,

                                               Beth                                                               Beth

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'Dear Abby' Pauline Phillips Dead: Advice Columnist Dies At 94

AP  |  By By STEVE KARNOWSKIPosted: 01/17/2013 1:41 pm EST  |  Updated: 01/17/2013 6:42 pm EST

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pauline Friedman Phillips, who as Dear Abby dispensed snappy, sometimes saucy advice on love, marriage and meddling mothers-in-law to millions of newspaper readers around the world and opened the way for the likes of Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil and Oprah, has died. She was 94.

Phillips died Wednesday in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, said Gene Willis, a publicist for the Universal Uclick syndicate.

"My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion, commitment and positive social change," her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now writes the column, said in a statement.

Private funeral services were held Thursday, Willis said.

The long-running "Dear Abby" column first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1956. Mother and daughter started sharing the byline in 2000, and Jeanne Phillips took over in 2002, when the family announced Pauline Phillips had Alzheimer's disease.

Pauline Phillips wrote under the name Abigail Van Buren. Her column competed for decades with the advice of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer, who died in 2002. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but they later regained the closeness they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa.

The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby's replies were often flippant and occasionally risqué one-liners, like some of those collected for her 1981 book "The Best of Dear Abby."