Laughter
There are two faces that come to mind when I think about laughter – my friends Amy and Laura.
We don’t laugh constantly when we are together but when we do we laugh hard. Actually, they laugh hard. If I close my eyes and think about their laughter I can see Amy doubled over with tears in her eyes and Laura laughing until she coughs. I’m usually finished with my laughter fit first and the benefit is I get to watch them finish theirs. They both have a lot of stress in their life and seeing them laugh heartily makes my heart happy. I’m beyond grateful for their friendship over the past 20+ years of my life.
The next face that comes to mind is my husband Adam.
He isn’t afraid to chuckle or laugh out loud when he thinks something is funny. When he finds something really funny he laughs until he cries. It’s adorable. The best part of these laughing/crying fits is that they can be caused by anything. Sometimes it’s a You Tube Video, sometimes it’s something the dog did, and sometimes it’s a miscommunication we had. I’m grateful his laughter fills our home.
I’m grateful for the sound of laughter itself. Everyone has such a different laugh. I can close my eyes and hear my brother’s laugh or my Mom’s laugh almost as clearly as if they were in the room with me. What if laughter was silent? Would it bring as much joy? Surely the world wouldn’t be nearly as happy a place without the giggles of children or the raucous laughter of adults. How wonderful it is to be able to remember the sound of someone’s laugh even after they are gone.
The last time I laughed so hard I couldn’t stop was at my wedding. We were taking pictures and one of my flower girls tumbled to the ground, dropping her apple. As it slowly rolled away she extended her hand and cried out, “my apful!” She had been entertaining us all just a few seconds before the fall and the earnestness of her cry was so endearing we all burst into laughter. (Don’t worry, she was fine and her Mom got her apple all cleaned up for her.) Something came over me and I laughed until I had tears in my eyes and even then I could not stop. To this day I can think about that incident and laugh.
I am grateful for the laughter in my life but I am even more grateful for the memories it brings.
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How did I miss this post in April?!? I am so thankful for you both! I laugh the hardest when I am with you and it is SO good for the soul.
How did I miss your comment in July?!? Oh well! So grateful for all the laughter all these years!