31 Days of Five-Minute Writes: Day 15 - Laugh

For some reason, when I thought about the word laugh, the song from Mary Poppins came to mind. It is so true that laughter can raise our spirits, almost like it raises the kids in the movie to the ceiling along with Bert's uncle. Sitting around laughing with friends or family is one of the best experiences. But it can be pretty fun when you are home alone. The Subaru commercial with the jealous dog got to me one night, until tears ran down my face and I almost couldn't catch my breath. It was an instant mood enhancer, like a boost of adrenaline to laugh at something as simple as an ad for a car.

One of my favorite memories is of looking through a box of my father's childhood belongings and running across a story that he had written when he was a kid. We read it out loud and as my father heard the words he had written so many years ago, he started laughing. When he could talk again, he told me and my sister that he was proud of us that we didn't laugh at his poor spelling and grammar.

Another experience of my father's laughter is when he tells the story of how when I was a child, it was hard to make me laugh. But one day, he discovered that I liked the sound made when he walked across a piece of metal in the yard. My daddy told me that the neighbors must have thought he was crazy jumping up and down in the yard, all to make his first born laugh.

I'm going to do my best to record those memories of the laughter. Those are where the story of my family can be found. In the laughs that came out of a day spent at a tiny amusement park in Arkansas, paddle boating across a large pond. In the laughs from a small child whose father was willing to look the fool to hear those laughs. The laughter that takes your breath away breathes life into your memories and keeps them with you forever.