SOL25-0805
Live, love, and laugh!
Live a life others will want to remember.
Love so much it never runs out.
Laugh contagiously.
Much has been written in medical literature about the health benefits of laughter. “It’s true,” they say, “laughter is good medicine.”
Laughter strengthens your immune system. It boosts your mood, diminishes your pain, and protects you from damaging effects of stress. Laughter binds you to others and lightens your burdens. It inspires you to hope and opens your heart.
Ralph Waldo Emerson tells us To Laugh Often and Much to succeed in life.
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
And the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
And endure the betrayal of friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a little better,
Whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch,
Or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier
Because you lived.
This is to have succeeded.
The Psalmist writes,
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
–Psalm 126:2-3
I love the first two lines: “our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.” That is to live well.
Back Story of this Post:
The photo in this post of me and my three kids was taken overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River during our 1982 visit to Astoria, Oregon (we were living in Texas at the time). In January 2022, I was searching a box of old photos for ones to use in a video for our oldest son’s Celebration of Life. This photo was in that box. When I studied the photo, though my heart was shattered with grief, I smiled and the tension in my face relaxed and my heart was made lighter as I remembered his laugh — spontaneous, hearty, contagious. His laugh was his trademark. After I made a digital copy, I tucked the original back in the box and scribbled a few words in my journal. The photo and those words were the seeds of this post.
Thank you Two Writing Teachers
for hosting Slice of Life Tuesday Challenge
where Alice Nine teaches language lessons that
Empower Students to Read and Write
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I’m so glad you visited today,
and I do enjoy hearing from you!
Please share below.
Your comment will appear after Alice Nine reads and approves it.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I find hope and solace in your post about laughter. That photo says so much about the life and laughter you shared with your children.
Oh, Alice. What a beautiful post and a loving tribute to your son and his gift of laughter. I’ve been thinking a lot about grief lately, and about living our lives well, so your post resonated with me. My heart goes out to you and your family for your loss. I’m sure it’s reshaped the landscape of your lives, but hope you and your family are still sharing laughter together–in shared memories and in the present. Thank you for sharing.
The photo is such an amazing candid of a family trip when everyone is so happy it just exudes from every face. I’m so sorry for your loss, and I’m thinking of how much more laughter will happen in Heaven when all the pain of loss is gone forever and we will all be singing praises for eternity.
Oh Alice! What an amazing post! When I saw the photo, I smiled to see such happiness. Then the poem and psalm just cemented my belief in the power of laughter. And then when I read about the death of your son, I was so profoundly moved. You struck my heart. This post is such a beautiful and powerful tribute to him and your everlasting mother’s love. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing with me. I once read that it is our tears and laughter that mingle to make rainbows. Blessings to you.
Alice,
This anecdote is bittersweet. A parent should never suffer the death of a child, no matter how old, but as you say, laughter is a balm. 1982 was so long ago but also not that long in the scheme of things.
It is mystifying how when we say or write 1982, it seems so long ago. But when we think of the actual memories of that time, it seems like yesterday. Memories drag us back to the past… sometimes that is good, sometimes it is not. Thanks for stopping by today.