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UGH, you know what? I had several versions of this article put together and decided to dump them all. Why? Partially because I’m a tad bit super busy and a little tiny bit of a perfectionist and those articles while good didn’t give me the vibe I wanted. So here I am…. kind of winging it a little. So, can ya’ll (said in my very best Georgia peach accent) bear with me a little?
Laughter is a thing…. it’s my thing. Laughter is ingrained in me and if some of you readers are my friends or follow me on social media, you’ll definitely notice I spend more time laughing at foolishness and making jokes than being serious. I mean really? Waste energy on being serious, sad or angry? Umm, that’s just not me. Humor is all around us all the time, but some people fail to see it like they fail to see the beauty in God’s work. Why go through life missing these amazing moments? You know the ones I am talking about.
The moments when you are with your husband or wife and you have a mental conversation that accidentally plays out in your facial expressions. When you casually listen to your kids talk and laugh about your parenting, but they have no idea you heard them. Or what about when you hear the family elders or ‘the old people’ as I call them tell stories of their childhood and the most embarrassing moments from yours? Those moments are usually hilarious.
However, some of my very best moments of laughter usually come through my group of crazy friends aka The Coven. They’re tons of love but every now and then the laughter from the infamous ‘$hit you can’t make up’ moments are the absolute best. Don’t believe me? Well hang on…
While in Kuwait, my very best friends called me late one evening. I panicked slightly because we’d talked earlier, and she seemed fine but told me that she had a funeral to attend and she’d call me later in the week. Well when I answered she sounded distraught and proceeded to explain to me that she fell. Now this particular friend, you’d have to know her. The strangest things happen with her, so I usually just let things be, but this time was different…very different.
It was a pretty rainy day and although the service was in a church, there would be a few words spoken at the grave side. She said that she took about five steps or so then wham!!! She’d somehow missed the giant, open, freshly dug grave in front of her and slid right into it. It’s okay to laugh and she was not hurt, but do you have the visual? I practically see it happen every time I talk about this.
Anyway, she said all she saw was mud around her and could feel it sliding in her boots and all over her hands as she tried not to slide in further. The older gentlemen around her grabbed her by the arms and hands helping her out to which one says, “Baby it’s not your time yet, come outta there!” Ya’ll, she said a boot slid completely off into the grave, LMAO! By this time in the story, my phone is on speaker and I’m choking with laughter. And I mean, to the point where my roommate came to check on me as she thought something was wrong.
I laugh so hard that my friend gets super mad at me and hangs up to call my husband and snitch because I wasn’t very sympathetic. She calls my house and our daughter answers. She tells her about the incident, I $hit you not, my daughter had the exact same response I did. My friend was not amused….my husband grabs the phone, listens and consoles her. He then hangs up, fusses at our daughter then calls me to fuss. Apparently, we were supposed to say stuff like, “OMG, are you okay?” or “Did you hurt yourself?” Nope, that’s not how our relationship works after 25+ years, we laugh.
After I could breathe again and not choke, I called her back. She said she didn’t appreciate me, or her niece laughing at her; then she proceeded to laugh. I said, “It’s you, how could you not laugh. The most random things happen to you…it’s funny.” To this very day, The Coven will periodically talk about her little incident but it’s all with love and it still makes us laugh to the point of tears.
Now I understand if some of you reading this will not appreciate the humor in this story and that’s cool. However, I’ve accepted that my life and the life of those I love are a series of ‘$hit you can’t make up’ moments followed by, “Okay God your sense of humor is showing.” But my point is a simple. This world that we live in is horrible! We get caught up on the ugly and mundane things of our day to day lives while letting the small humorous moments escape us.
We are besieged with real news, fake news, drama and tragedy 24/7 thanks to social media. But I refuse to let that steal my joy! You see every morning I wake and after I spend about 30 minutes getting my life together (LMAO), I know I always have a reason to smile and laugh. It might be watching my husband sleep, it could be the early morning quiet time…it could be waking to a video or pics of our granddaughter Brave. It might even be a butt crack o’dawn text message from the 23yo filled with ridiculousness or a pic of her cute face. Hell, it might even be my morning “conversation” with our dog Gracie. Yes, I said conversation, all pet lovers do this, LMAO!
Life comes at you hard, fast, and can be unmerciful. My safe guess is for most of us, throat punching the seven kingdoms out of your coworker, husband/wife or kids would be frowned upon; or so I’m told. You, and so many others need an outlet that doesn’t lead to you sitting in the back of a cop car or in a holding tank waiting for bail.
The fact is, whatever makes you laugh, just laugh. It might not even be a time for laughter but if it can help you cope, crack that smile or show that little evil grin, it’s okay. Laugh at yourself, your friends, your family, or whatever…just laugh. Laugh so hard that your face hurts, you can’t breathe, your belly cramps up…and you snort. Laugh so hard that it becomes infectious…JUST LAUGH!
-Collette Jones
is a retired veteran, mother, young pretty grandma, (“Ask my husband!”), wife, and friend who manages the voices in her head by staying busy, upbeat, and “prayed up.” Follow her writing on ‘Voices from the Bleachers’ on Facebook.
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