"Laughter is Always Possible" (Point #5)

Today I am grateful for safe travels, laughter, patience, meaningful conversations, quiet.

Happy Birthday to our grandson Aaron! We enjoyed spending his 2nd birthday with him, his parents Arthur and Alyssa, and maternal grandma Donna on Saturday. There is nothing like the joy-filled laughter of a toddler. A couple of ways Aaron shared his with us were as Arthur chased him in a playful game of hide and seek, and as he made his way down a slide at a park. Smiles all around.

When it comes to cancer, no laughing matter for sure, levity is still possible. The toughest times and heightened pain and fear still can’t block the natural tendency we have to laugh, to lighten the burdens of grief, worry, heaviness, even if for a moment. Those moments matter and they help us endure.

In the thick of my own cancer treatments and surgeries, I recall some humor--inside jokes--shared between my husband Darcy and I, and between my friend Jenny and I. A bit of dark humor perhaps. If you haven't lost body parts, you may not have found it funny. But I still recall those laughs fondly, and the connections with those two people in my life were made stronger because we could laugh in the midst of such trying times.

I also recall going to a community meeting shortly after my diagnosis, and the chairperson basically asked "Is there anyone who has anything they want to get off their chest?" I smiled and thought to myself as I figuratively pointed to my right breast "Yeah, I have some cancer right here I would like to get rid of." I knew in that moment that I would be able to get through what was coming, as unknown and uncharted as the territory ahead was.

And today, two months after my sister Mary Jo's memorial, I recall fondly some of the most poignant and profound humor and laughter I have experienced. The evening of her service, my other 11 siblings and I gathered with other family members and ended up paying wonderful tribute to Mary Jo with a sing-along. We laughed long and loud and it was a great send-off.

How can one's heart ache and laugh at the same time? I don't know, I just know it can. Yes, laugher is always possible.

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