I have come to the conclusion that without laughter I think I probably would have become completely crazy by now – and I’m talking check at the first of the month certified crazy!
I without a doubt have been doubly blessed with people in my life that make me laugh constantly and at certain times that laughter has truly been the best medicine! I have this amazing family that consists of more comedians than a marathon on Comedy Central.
We laugh at everything – and at the expense of almost anything. In fact there have been times when I have had so much going on in my life that I felt like I was holding to a string to just keep hanging on and someone in my family can make me laugh instead of crying over something that is going on. When I visit my family in Ohio I honestly come home with sore ribs and cheeks from laughing the entire time that I am there. My Aunt Lois (who more like my sister and one of my very best friends) and I can find more humor in life in general and cannot carry on a conversation without wheezing on her end and snorting on mine when we start laughing. My mom and I are the same way – we can look at each other when something happens or something is said and we instantly think the same thing and laugh without hesitation. Between my mom, my aunt and my girlfriends I have lost count of how many Depends that would have come in handy!
My dad was one of the funniest people I have ever known and I have seen him literally bring Patrick to his knees laughing so hard at something he has said. In fact I can’t think of anyone in my family that doesn’t have some level of a sense of humor and everyone has their own kind of humor. My brother Matt has that sarcastic wit that comes in a flash without him even having to think – it’s like a natural reflex and my other brother Mark loves life and can crack a joke about anything and laugh at himself which people can’t often do. My sister Jen just loves to make people laugh that even if it’s at her own expense that’s even better to her.
And the Lord has blessed me with having 3 kids that have their own wonderful senses of humor too and Peyton at almost 2 is following suit with everyone else.
These past few months I have had an overwhelming amount of stress on me and there are days that I have felt like if one more thing happened I was going to completely lose it! But I have been so fortunate to have people like Patrick [who is so much funnier than some people may know] that makes me laugh when I in all honesty should just be crying.
This past weekend I had some of the best therapy that I have had in a while. My best friend Shelli of over 25 years came down with a new friend that I have now (Angie) and we sat in the sun room with my mom and reminisced over so many things that have happened over the years sharing stories with Angie to bring her up to speed on what all we have been through since we have been friends. For a little while that afternoon I didn’t think about the new heat & air unit I was going to have to buy, the endless amount of plumbing that I need to have done, or the upcoming surgery, orthodontics and doctor appointments that were coming up the next week. I escaped to the island of humor and basked in the echoes of laughter.
Then there are those days when I wake up with old and new worries on my mind and set myself up for being in a gloom and doom mood for the day and my precious friend Charlotte will send me a text that makes me literally laugh out loud by myself sitting in my car and she turns my day into a day that I know I can make it through. She doesn’t realize how much that laughter is needed just at the right time.
In life we can dwell on the things that worry us, make ourselves sick over situations that we can’t do anything about and we can make all those around us miserable with our “Eeyore” outlook on life – or we can make the choice to laugh. Now granted there are some things that making light of them is simply not the right thing to do at the time. But when there is something that you can’t laugh at – think of those people that put a smile on your face and make you laugh.
When my dad passed away and all these friends and family members were at the house you could hear every person telling a different story about my dad and laughter came from every group that the stories were being told to. While our hearts were broken from his absence – our hearts and minds were filled with wonderful and hilarious stories about him. That’s what I want to leave behind when I leave this world I want to leave an impression on people that will cause them to smile or giggle every time that my name crosses their mind.
Thank you to those of you that give me so much humor and laughter in my life – without you I would be a very different person than what I am and I would certainly not be enjoying life as much as I do.
