WHY CRY WHEN YOU CAN LAUGH?

 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”   Proverbs 17:22 (NLT)

My late husband, Jeff, lived many years with several chronic maladies and endured a multitude of procedures.  He always found the humor in the situation with descriptions such as, “having an enema with a fire hose” and “getting the umbrella treatment” to open a stricture.  So it was only natural that over the years we were attuned to each other’s sense of humor.

Necessity dictated that we travel to the Mayo Clinic inRochester,Minnesotafor a second hip replacement surgery. It was a twelve-hour drive for us.  All went well; he was discharged and we began the long journey home.  Jeff was 6’2” tall, so we had some difficulty folding him into my Chevy Impala without bending his new hip in the wrong direction, but we managed to get him moderately comfortable for the trip.  The original plan was to drive halfway and stop for the night.  He did not relish the idea of trying to maneuver in a motel with his walker, so he convinced me to keep driving.  We did, however, stop to use restroom facilities at a McDonalds.  This was our first experience needing a handicapped restroom.  I helped unfold him out of the car, unloaded his walker and he hobbled in at a slow pace.  As we made our way between the booths, we heard the clickety-clack, clickety-clack of a walker behind us. The man and his walker pushed around us on his way to the restroom.  Jeff and I stopped and looked at each other in disbelief before we erupted into laughter.  We never imagined that Jeff would have to enter a race to get to the handicapped restroom!

This experience reminded me of how often we rush to our daily destinations not considering the people we pass along the way, or the special blessings God may have provided for that day.  It reminds me now of the way Jeff coped amidst difficulties.  Meeting hindrances with humor kept his focus on the higher hope of God rather than on himself.  Laughter really is good medicine for the soul.

© Luan Louis