Day 61
Marmoset there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this my marmoset (marmoset, marmoset) …
Yesterday, via snail mail, I received a card with a marmoset and those words on it.
I laughed so hard I snorted.
Corny, yes … and I loved it.
The card came from a friend of mine who was a client first and friend later. Our lives have been intertwined for so many years I’ve lost count … in and out … we touch base and catch up and we laugh. She was one of the first to come to our home after hearing of Tim’s cancer. She brought a basket of muffins. It might as well have been gold for Tim and I were so deeply touched by her thoughtfulness and kindness. And in her brief visit, talking about something as awful as cancer … we still laughed. I think she makes me laugh far more than I ever could make her do so. And for that I am grateful.
Laughter is good. In a nice, yet kind of embarrassing way, I have been told (by several people) that they know if I’m at a gathering because they can hear me laughing. I guess that’s good to be known for your laugh. Better than some other things!
I have good friends. When I think I’ll be leaving this area within a month my friends come foremost to my mind (after Sam that is). They have been with me along this adult journey, some for more than 25 years. And the one thing I do with all of them is laugh.
We laugh a LOT.
Ladies – you know who you are (and I will miss you terribly).
There’s my old Mary Kay group. Some of us still are pedaling lipsticks, some not; some are still buying them, some are not. But we all laugh. We’ve seen each other through deaths and divorces. And we still laugh.
There are the ladies of the ‘hood … the group that gathers for birthdays and celebrations and support. Who will I have Whine and Wine with after I move? Through it all … the illnesses and blessings, the trials and triumphs of children and husbands, the happy and sad times, the weight gains and losses … through it all we supported … and laughed.
There is my dinner on the patio group … whether at my house or someone else’s or at the restaurant down the street those nights have always included good conversation, therapy and yes … laughter.
There is my former neighbor … who despite our age difference of twenty-one years whenever we are together we giggle like we are 5th grade girls.
There are my best buds … the ones I could call at 4am if I needed anything. The ones I call on when I need a lift. The ones I rely on to tell me the truth and love me no matter what. The ones who through it all – make me laugh.
There are you – those who I have collected along the way from some business or school affiliation or happenstance at the grocery store. Or we met through a neighbor or something. Somewhere we struck up a conversation and a friendship blossomed.
I am fortunate to have friends here who love and support me and who wish me the best … even if that means leaving them here while I go forward to another place. I have friends all over the country who I have not seen, some for decades, but we keep touch and keep track and the distance and time melts and we are good … and through all the years … we’ve laughed.
In five years I know we all may be in different places … some retired, some homes elsewhere, some here, some moved to another city in this state or another, some (perhaps) not here at all. Nothing remains the same – yet the common thread that will always bind us is the laughter we shared all these years and the promise of more in the future.
Laughter is the confetti or glitter of life … you sprinkle out a little and it goes everywhere. What a wonderful thing.