The Wisdom in Humor and Reminiscing
“In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by.” – Lucille Ball
Stella sat at the head of the table on Mother’s Day, surrounded by her family. It hadn’t been long since she had begun her round of chemotherapy.
Mom and her twin brother George were two peas in a pod. Their silly sense of humor delighted many. The fact that they stood at just about 5 feet and 5 feet two, added to their appeal. When they were together, they fed off each other and it was adorable.
On this particular day however, Uncle George was not in town, but regardless of the situation, Mom most often found a way to lighten the mood even without him there. Laughing from her gut over something that has since been lost in my memory, mom reached up and touched her head. A clump of hair followed her hand as she pulled it away from her head. There was a silent gasp, but she quickly molded the wad of hair into a mustache, and crunching her upper lip to her nose, held it in place making everyone laugh...everyone, except me.
Life wasn’t easy growing up and often times my mother’s silliness annoyed me. I wanted her to be the adult! The fact that everyone around her loved her humor, seemed to get under my skin. I therefore never considered myself a person who enjoyed comedy. When most people were laughing at a joke, a television show or a movie, I was frankly just not feeling it.
I believe that for me, the importance of laughter was learned when I became a mother. A child’s laughter is so genuine and contagious. Their lightheartedness is the center of their lives. When they are struggling, a quick tickle or playful gesture can conjure up a precious giggle.
One of my most memorable moments with a family of my own, was watching reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond". Watching television wasn’t a normal occurrence in our home when the boys were growing up. For various reasons, we opted to steer clear of that pastime. When the oldest however, shared an episode with us, we became hooked! For me it wasn’t as much about the show as it was being together and doing something that we all enjoyed, through laughter.
One evening I had asked our teenage sons what they were planning on doing that night. Almost as if on cue, they both replied, “Whatever we want to. Gosh!” We laughed out loud. Not having yet seen the movie “Napoleon Dynamite”, it wasn’t because we understood the meaning of their reply as much as it was that they had both responded in unison. We decided we needed to purchase the movie and watch it with our sons. Truthfully, I didn’t get it! I could not for the life of me understand the attraction they had to this pop culture film. I did however find myself enjoying their laughter as they got lost in humor.
Television is no longer watched in our home and our sons are now grown. I still struggle to find the humor in jokes, and movies. My joy is not so much in the actual act of laughing, but in feeling the mood in a room or a situation lightened by a twinkle in one’s eye, a smile on their face or a hearty laugh. The tone transforms us and even if but for a moment our particular situation, regardless of how difficult, is washed away….
There is Wisdom in Humor and Reminiscing. Work it!
Stella sat at the head of the table on Mother’s Day, surrounded by her family. It hadn’t been long since she had begun her round of chemotherapy.
Mom and her twin brother George were two peas in a pod. Their silly sense of humor delighted many. The fact that they stood at just about 5 feet and 5 feet two, added to their appeal. When they were together, they fed off each other and it was adorable.
On this particular day however, Uncle George was not in town, but regardless of the situation, Mom most often found a way to lighten the mood even without him there. Laughing from her gut over something that has since been lost in my memory, mom reached up and touched her head. A clump of hair followed her hand as she pulled it away from her head. There was a silent gasp, but she quickly molded the wad of hair into a mustache, and crunching her upper lip to her nose, held it in place making everyone laugh...everyone, except me.
Life wasn’t easy growing up and often times my mother’s silliness annoyed me. I wanted her to be the adult! The fact that everyone around her loved her humor, seemed to get under my skin. I therefore never considered myself a person who enjoyed comedy. When most people were laughing at a joke, a television show or a movie, I was frankly just not feeling it.
I believe that for me, the importance of laughter was learned when I became a mother. A child’s laughter is so genuine and contagious. Their lightheartedness is the center of their lives. When they are struggling, a quick tickle or playful gesture can conjure up a precious giggle.
One of my most memorable moments with a family of my own, was watching reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond". Watching television wasn’t a normal occurrence in our home when the boys were growing up. For various reasons, we opted to steer clear of that pastime. When the oldest however, shared an episode with us, we became hooked! For me it wasn’t as much about the show as it was being together and doing something that we all enjoyed, through laughter.
One evening I had asked our teenage sons what they were planning on doing that night. Almost as if on cue, they both replied, “Whatever we want to. Gosh!” We laughed out loud. Not having yet seen the movie “Napoleon Dynamite”, it wasn’t because we understood the meaning of their reply as much as it was that they had both responded in unison. We decided we needed to purchase the movie and watch it with our sons. Truthfully, I didn’t get it! I could not for the life of me understand the attraction they had to this pop culture film. I did however find myself enjoying their laughter as they got lost in humor.
Television is no longer watched in our home and our sons are now grown. I still struggle to find the humor in jokes, and movies. My joy is not so much in the actual act of laughing, but in feeling the mood in a room or a situation lightened by a twinkle in one’s eye, a smile on their face or a hearty laugh. The tone transforms us and even if but for a moment our particular situation, regardless of how difficult, is washed away….
There is Wisdom in Humor and Reminiscing. Work it!
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