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Laughter Is Supposed To Bring Us Relief
Sometimes it just makes us remember
Laughter is supposed to bring us relief.
It’s supposed to lighten the load and distract us while life rumbles on all around us. Hitting potholes and braking loudly in the middle of the night. But it doesn’t. It helps. Like giggling in church as the pallbearers bring the casket to the altar.
As the priest begins his sermon, pretending to know the deceased when all he has are a few notes from the family.
Isabella was a wonderful wife, mother, and friend to many. And she was, but where does that leave us?
I returned to Brooklyn for the holiday. I walked past the house where my mother lived for 57 years and watched it being gutted by the new owners.
Gutted. How apropos.
Her life is over. Someone else’s just beginning. And there I stood, smiling a bit, but not because anything was funny. Humans tend to smile when things hurt or are unpleasant.
A distraction of sorts. Hey, look at my face, I’m dealing with this. The pain, yeah, it’s there but I’m dealing with it. It’ll pass.
Then I walked away and left the new image of my old home to mingle with the old memories and see what might happen. Probably not much. What is left…
