Jul62009
Billy Mays 1958-2009
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I feel like I need to honor a legend, but I honestly don’t know where to begin.
You see, Billy Mays was my hero. And truthfully, all Domestic Debacles out there owe him their allegiance.
Billy Mays brought us products that simply make our lives easier.
I remember the first time I bought Orange Glo. I was 13, and bought it with my allowance. Yeah, I was that dork. It cleaned everything and smelled so good. 
He’s brought us Mighty Mend it, so we don’t have to learn how to sew.
He’s brought us Mighty Mend it, so we don’t have to learn how to sew.
He’s brought us Oxi-Clean, to get out the red hair dye we might have gotten on a white t-shirt, from a makeover gone awry.
He’s brought us Kaboom so we don’t have to use elbow grease when cleaning our bathrooms or kitchens.
He’s brought us Zorbeez, to clean the spills of our children (or husbands).
He’s even brought us the Quick Chop, so no knife skills needed.
Billy was the king of cutting corners. And that’s what this blog is all about.
Not only did he sell us these products, but he loved doing it. No salesman will ever be able to capture his charisma. Many will try, and many will fail.
But Billy brought me more than these products.
You see, when M was born, she had some problems. She wasn’t able to eat and gain weight. The doctors were very worried about her, and she was given the label of “failure to thrive” (I know you’ve got to be wondering what this has to do with Billy, but I promise you I’m getting to it).
The doctors told us that we would have to feed her every 45 minutes, for as long as it took to get her back to where she needed to be: weight wise. This took two weeks of being up every night, with nothing on TV except my good friend Billy Mays. He’s the one who was there for the 2am, 3am, 4am feedings yelling at me, keeping me awake. He made me laugh when I didn’t think I could. He kept a smile on my face when I was so worried about being a new mom with a huge challenge in front of me.
But he kept yelling.
Kept smiling.
Kept selling.
Kept me awake when I needed it most.
That’s why I was so excited that the show Pitchmen came out. I made everyone in my family sit down and watch it. It was funny. It was the show my family needed in their lives to laugh a little.
Even as I type this, my husband is threatening to cancel my credit cards. He’s afraid when he goes to work that I might go on a “Billy Mays buying binge”. He might be a little right in this case.
I want thank Billy for what’s he’s done, and what he’s contributed to society.
I also feel for the children who are missing their father at this very moment. I can’t possibly imagine what it’s like for his family to lose such a wonderful person.
I know it’s hard enough just being one of his fans.
Wow – you are a true fan!! I had no idea half of those products even existed. Its someone dies so young, but you did a great job in honoring him with your sweet post.
Maria @BOREDmommy
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Billy Mays was awesome and will live on as a legend. I like seeing the tributes to him out there, and yours was very touching. I have done one on my blog that you can see at http://www.unclewalter.info/2009/06/a-tribute-to-billy-mays-he-will-be-missed.html. I often referred to Billy Mays as the solution to so many of our problems. Now he has moved on to pitch bigger and better things. As for the buying spree fear, I went ahead and ordered a tool bandit because Billy sold it to me, so I think you should be allowed to purchase a few things
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I miss Billy Mays, too. Great post!
Bridget @queenofhaddock
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Agreed, 100%. Great blog!
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That's beautiful. Really touching.
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Thank you for writing this!
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I was a fan of Billy Mays and your tribute was heartfelt and humorous at the same time. Thanks for a great blog.
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Wow, I loved your post on Billy Mays. I was so, so sad to learn of his death. I (also) made my boyfriend and I sit down to watch Pitchmen – instead of just letting the DVR catch it and watch it the next day. Had to watch as it aired!
I LOVED Pitchmen because of getting the inside scoop of watching the infomercials being made… but it's so much more than that. You could tell Billy Mays was such a down to Earth guy by the way he acted on the show towards his job, family and friends. It was amazing. I had a hard, hard time holding tears in when watching the marathon going on the other day. We had seen so much (already) out of him on each episode – but still, so much to be seen. It's so sad.
I actually had a miracle to happen this week and I said it was Billy Mays talking to Jesus to send me a miracle. Haha.
I apologize for this long comment. Found your blog today and just had to note!
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I always saw Billy Mays as a comical type of guy with his infomercials and always got a kick out of them. It wasn't until I started watching the show Pitchmen that I started to see what a special person he was not only to the business, but his family and friends. It seemed to me that at his age he was at the peak of his career and was going to do some bigger things and all was cut short.
I was stunned to hear he had passed and I will miss his awesome attitude he had towards life and business.
There was never anyone like him before and there will never be another one like him ever again.
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That was a wonderful post. I'm sad too! I still can't look at my Orange-Glo without getting a tear! So tragic when a life is cut short like that. But who are we to question the "bigger plan"!
Great Blog too. I really enjoy reading it. Being a mother of 4, I can appreciate your every word.
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