The Voice of Laughter

Recently our family was blessed with a new baby girl. She finds herself in the good company of two other cousins, all born within the past four years. I look at our grandchildren, especially when they have newly arrived, and deeply and consciously understand that life renews itself everyday. That life is a tapestry woven not just with duty, and obligation, and tasks, but is also filled with miracles and reasons to have hope. It also gives us so many opportunities to laugh out loud. The innocence of children is our greatest antidote to illness and the blahs. As adults, we loose touch with the joy of childhood; it gets buried in the drudgery of our "to do" lists. Our grandchildren renew me and I feel hopeful and determined to be a contributor to their lives in a positive, rooted way.

When I think about children, one of the things that most inspires me is their laughter. It is far more infectious than a flu virus and, unlike the flu virus, creates a wellness within us that is undeniable. Laughter simply rocks our world! We need it, as much as we need air. Being around new life injects my heart and soul with boundless life. The world, now more than ever, needs our laughter. Not to ignore or pretend the serious issues do not exist, because they do. With the internet and the news, it is hard to dodge the hard balls being thrown at us every day. What if we could all take a moment, maybe stretch it into a day, and just laugh at ourselves and the contradictions of life that surround us at every turn?

I was blessed to spend the past few weeks with my children and my grandchildren. New births are like that, they pull you away from the everyday tasks and drop you deep into a well of simply being in the moment. Throughout that time, I have laughed at so many things; the gurgles of a baby, the stories and logic of my four year old granddaughter, the french fries up the nose of my 2 year old grandson, and the stories of my children, recalling their own funny stories from their childhood. Our oldest son read passages from "#&^% My Father Says" .. a new book by Justin Halpern. Between the innocence of the new lives that surrounded us and the gut-wrenching laughter induced from Halpern's book, I feel better than I have felt in years. Take a moment today and laugh...it renews you and truly is the best medicine!!