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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Laughter

Laughter~Mandatory 


Is it even possible to go more than a day without laughing?  At all?  I might be able to go a day if I was really sick, painfully sick or sleeping kinda sick. That is the only way I can imagine that happening.


(Enjoy the fish-eye lens shots my niece took at Thanksgiving last year!  There's my brother's dog, George,  my brother and I and down a little further my sister.)


TV makes me laugh, the dogs make me laugh, Lord knows my roomy makes me laugh and in general everyone I talk with makes me laugh (leaving out the CSR people I have to deal with now and again).  Do I make other people funny?  Am I so peculiar that they can't help but make fun of me so I'll laugh at my stupid self?  Maybe I just chose funny people to keep in my life?  I didn't choose my mom, she makes me laugh. My sister makes me laugh and I didn't choose her.  My brother's pretty funny, my nieces are hysterically funny and if they are mixing it up with my kids and their spouses, a laugh riot will no doubt ensue and I didn't choose any of them.  So, no, didn't choose funny people, though the friends I have kept through the years are all pretty funny people, sometimes by mistake, but still.  I don't think I'm funny, I do crack myself up now and then, but generally, I don't think I'm funny.  I do think I bring out the funny in those around me though and I enjoy that.  


I read somewhere a few dozen years ago that laughter makes more wrinkles than frowning.  Is that true?  I kinda hope so, cuz I'm pretty wrinkled and I laugh a lot.  I wanna think it's because my face is far too busy pulling my lips back and squeezing my eyes shut in uncontrolled laughter to care that it is breaking down all the collagen that used to make my face smooth and wrinkle free.  There was no character in that smooth version.  I got me some seriously intense character now!


I don't think I have more than a handful of memories of conversations with any of my family that didn't include some good laughs.  It's what we do.  My daughter tells stories that have some grain of truth and then are just so exaggerated that even those who were there might not recognize the event, but they are hilarious stories and I love hearing them.   Listening to my son tell the latest activities of his kids or their latest funny story makes my sides ache, by the end.  Mom sees the humor in almost everything and then shares it with a feigned attitude of disgust.  Love it.  With my sister it will most likely be a grandson story or one of our youth.  The youth where she, the older sister rules over the spoiled and detested baby sister (me) and then ends with (while laughing) a most sincere apology for her horrid behavior.  Our brother loves to tell stories of how they tortured me just because they could and then how Mom would step in and 'save' me.  I don't remember being saved, but okay.  They are great and funny stories and told with such love and humor...


We all gave birth to funny people.  Seriously funny people who could possibly all have had careers in stand-up comedy.  A room full of them would cause some majorly aching sides and coughing from pure and gut based laughter.  


Long life and good health seem to be the rule in our ancestry.   Makes ya wonder, eh? Maybe laughter truly is the best medicine.  Most of us are not doctor freaks.  Most of us don't go unless there is a real problem we can't ignore and otc medication isn't helping.  We don't take particularly good care of ourselves, but we come from a long line of long livers, (nope, our livers are average size) and we come from a long line of people with silly and funny outlooks on life.  We come from a long line of laughers.


Rich history and a bright future, that is what I see when I look around me and it makes me smile, if not laugh-out-loud.


Jo







19 comments:

  1. I love to laugh too--I think laughter is not only fun and healthy but it is just really good for the soul!! I love being around family because we always laugh as well...although not many of us were born to go into comedy--we sure can bust a gut at get togethers!

    Cheers, Jenn

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  2. This is a good one, Jo! It made me think of this:
    Barb and Shari were here. There were candles burning on the coffee table. Barb was sitting on the floor and leaned her head back right into one of the candles. I was sure her hair was on fire, so I jumped over the coffee table onto her head to smother the flames. Sam and Barkley and Maggie (the Golden who lived next door, remember her?) were running in circles and barking. Shari said the whole thing was like a scene from a Woody Allen movie. We all laughed until our stomachs hurt, just as you said in your story. Then, of course, we had to clean up the mess.
    You could, sometime, when the mood strikes you, write a story about last Thanksgiving when Jayne and Beth made us all laugh for hours.
    Gracious sakes, I sure do love you! I hadn't thought about the hair on fire incident for a long time.

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  3. Jenn...What can I say, my family is mostly a bunch of comedians! Thanks for commenting, you know I love that.
    It makes me LOL

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  4. Pat...I can see that happening! Graceful as you are, I am amazed you didn't break something, like Barb, for example. LOL
    Ya know, last Thanksgiving was just out of control from start to finish. We never got everyone's picture, your best friend and you bonded, Jayne and Beth in the wine are always good for a giggle or twenty! I might do that one day, but I'd also have to include all of the extreme close ups Shari took! I have never looked so danged good, EVER!
    I think she should become a photographer, omg, she could be rollin' in the dough!
    LOL again...I am funny sometimes.

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  5. Love this, Jo! I am sure there are plenty of laughs to be had during your holidays with family. That's so awesome.

    When we laugh - we feel happy! 8o)

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  6. Linda...Glad you liked it! They are a fun group of people, what can I say?
    When people comment on my blog site I feel happy, too! :)

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  7. It takes more muscles to frown than smile. My kids are funny too. Go figure?

    Joyce
    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2011/11/gbe2-laughter.html

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  8. You all should settle down. Life is too serious for all this ballyhoo. Don't you know the Bible says that "A broken spirit is good like a medicine, but a merry heart dries the bones"?

    What's that? I got it backwards? So "A merry heart does good like a medicine and a broken spirit dries the bones"?

    Never mind then; carry on with the hoopla.

    Great post Jo!

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  9. Mike...a little dyslexia can be a bad thing! Don't think that's in the Bible, but I think it's true. And the hoopla continues.............

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  10. Joyce...Well, now that blows my theory out of the water! Crap. I mean underwear and fart! he he he
    Anyway...

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  11. Love that you all laugh yourselves silly!! Good for you!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/

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  12. Kathy...They are truly a funny group of people!

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  13. Somehow I picture your family and being both fun and funny. :O)

    My kids are crazy-funny and the grands are a hoot. I love hanging out with the family and laughing until our sides hurt. All sorts of good.

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  14. Beth...Ain't life just a hoot with a bunch of crazies around? ♥ my family.

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  15. Crazies are the best. We laugh when our old pup falls over in the grass. He's a short legged stumble bunny, but he rights himself and ambles on. Life is too short, or too long not to have a happy spirit.

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  16. GpD...I couldn't agree more. It's so much better to just laugh. Crying makes my mascara run. lol

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  17. You know what I like best about family laughter? It often stems from 'secrets'; those little in jokes which mean nothing to anyone else, but have seen many times where I and a family member have been rolling on the floor in hysterics, surrounded by very puzzled friends :D Great post, Jo *hugs*

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  18. This is a great post. My family is hilarious, every one of them - even my extended family. It's a laugh riot most of the time. And most of the people that I've chosen to be close to are funny. Laughter is an important ingredient in my life.

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  19. Mojo...Every family seems to have their "inside stories" don't they? It's fun and I love family crazies.

    Langley...I think we all choose funny people to have in our lives. It's just a good and healthy choice! :)

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