Finding Humor in the Dark Times

I've quoted it several times already, but I'll say it again: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." Proverbs 17:22. We all go through rough and trying times; we all experience sorrow and pain, but even during those times we can find humor. I truly believe that is a gift from God -humor helps us cope. Sometimes we can find the humor right away. Sometimes we have to wait for it. Sometimes it may take years to find. That's why you hear the expressions "One day you'll look back on this situation and laugh" or "Time heals all wounds."

I was 18 when my grandpa died. He had lung cancer and the doctors think that it ended up spreading to his brain. After he was diagnosed he went down fast. He was with us during his final Thanksgiving, relatively the same man. Although he had slowed down, his appetite diminished, and was weaker, his spirits and state of mind were the same – he knew us. It wasn't long before the pain set in and the hallucinations began – in part because of the Morphine, in part because the cancer had spread. Soon he was unable to talk, unable to recognize any of us. He was on permanent bed rest at home and was under the care of a hospice and my grandma. It was so hard to watch this strong man who had been so full of life, who loved his family, who enjoyed a good joke, enjoyed making friends, wither before our eyes. He was gone a few days shy of Christmas.

I was sleeping in a chair in his room the night he died. I had been asked to come over and stay the night with my grandma and cousin to help take care of him. My grandma was a tad on the spooked side because her mother, his father, and some other relative had all died on that same day. That night I agreed to take care of him while my grandma and cousin tried to catch up on some desperately needed rest. I suctioned out his throat as needed, talked to him (even though I doubt he could understand me), and stayed in the chair at the foot of his bed. Eventually, I succumbed to sleep. I was awoken in the morning by my grandma coming in to the room to check on him. That's when we had discovered that he had passed away. I had to seriously struggle with feelings of guilt about that night. I kept thinking that if I hadn't have fallen asleep he would have still been alive. But I had to accept the truth: my grandpa would not have made it no matter what we did. We all knew it; it had just been a matter of time. Nevertheless, a giant wave of sadness washed over the family as we called up everyone and spread the news.

The next few days were a blur of activity preparing for the funeral and dealing with Christmas. My stepdad's brother and his wife were visiting from out of town during this time. Their presence helped alleviate some of the sadness I was feeling. My uncle Sonny told me a special "story" during this time. He told me a story of why the angel sits on top of the Christmas tree. He said (and I am paraphrasing):

"Santa was having a really bad Christmas Eve one year. Nothing was going right: Mrs. Claus was mad at him, one of the reindeer had broken its leg, half the elves were out with the flu, and everything was behind schedule. Santa was in a really bad mood and seriously stressed out as he stood surveying the workshop. Just then, a little angel flew in carrying a Christmas tree and asked him, " Hey, Santa, where do you want me to put this thing?" And that my friends is why the angel now sits on top of the Christmas tree! ;-)

Now keep that "story" in mind. A few days after my grandpa passed away I was with my mom and step-dad at the viewing at the funeral home. I was sobbing as I looked upon his kindly old face laying peacefully in the casket. At some point, the funeral director needed to speak with my mom about something so I followed her and my stepdad out of the room and sat dejectedly in a chair in the waiting area. As they talked, I happened to look around the room which had been decorated for Christmas. That's when I noticed it – a big Christmas tree sitting in the corner decked out in lights and ornaments. And sitting on top of that tree? A little angel. My peals of sudden laughter caused everyone to immediately stop talking and look at me like I was nuts! They asked me, "Are you okay? and "What are you laughing at?" I couldn't even speak, I was laughing so hard. All I could do was point to the tree. When my stepdad saw what I was pointing at he understood immediately. He explained to the funeral director, who had an expression of panic on his face, that, no, I was not going looney but that someone had recently told me a joke about how the angel got on top of the Christmas tree and that's what I was laughing at. Then he said, "She needed that." Boy, was he ever right. That expression on the funeral director's face was priceless which made me laugh even more. It's amazing how contagious laughter can be though isn't it? Next thing you know, my mom and dad were chuckling at me! The little meeting was quickly brought to a close and we left the funeral home. Yes, it was a sad time, but on that night a little bit of laughter helped alleviate some of the strain we were under and gave us a "joybreak."

My point is not to underestimate the power of sorrow, pain, or strife (we all will and need to go through these things), but to point out that sometimes we can find humor in the darkest of situations. Let's not underestimate the power of laughter! Laughter gives us relief (even if it's temporary), it helps us cope, it helps us heal, and it can help calm tense situations. So many people take themselves too seriously when they should really just lighten up! They'd probably find themselves a lot happier if they did. So, how did I come by today's subject? I happened to find the clip below of Mark Lowry discussing a motorcycle accident he was in. He took what had been a very serious situation to him and was able to find humor in it. I'm sure he wasn't able to laugh about it at the time, but it comes back to what I mentioned earlier about finding humor later on. What about you? Do you have any situations that you didn't find funny at the time, but you now look back on and laugh? Feel free to share in the comments section below. In the meantime, enjoy Mark's story!

Cubicle Wars!

Okay I do not actually work in a cubicle, but I do have coworkers that do. Frankly, it would drive me crazy being surrounded by those little walls all the time. I don't know how they stand it. Not only would I be getting claustrophobic, but it would be too big a temptation to me to mess with my neighbors! The walls would just scream "CHALLENGE!" or "DECORATE ME!" I'm fairly positive things would be tossed over those barricades! I'm telling you, cubicles do something to people! I remember the day they finished installing cubicles for some of our sales guys at work. Me and my boss at the time, both being creative and quite frankly mischievous individuals, immediately had to, just HAD to, mess with the whole cubicle formation and the guys. We had just received a shipment of hand held paper fans in the shape of prairie dog heads and so we taped them to the cubicle walls at different heights and locations so it looked like the prairie dogs were peaking out of their holes at the guys. Some of the guys noticed right away and moved them to different locations so they wouldn't have those beady little eyes staring down at them. Others just shook there heads at us. We thought it added a nice touch to the place but the guys ended up taking them down a few days later. Bummer. We had a nice laugh out of it though! Hey, we did it to relieve stress close to closing time, give us a break! Never, though, have I thought about doing the things the guys in these two clips have done to each other. Only because, as I said, I don't actually work in a cubicle. But if I did... well, let's just be thankful I don't. Mwahahaha! So, if you work in a cubicle, you may want to take notes. If not, just enjoy them anyway! :-)

Baby Got Book!

I absolutely love parodies – when they are done well. Today brings a special clip. With it being Sunday and all, millions of people all over the world will be turning to the Good Book (known as the Bible to you little heathens out there ;-D j/k) for guidance and inspiration. Also, music plays a big part in church services. Therefore when I found this music video I thought it was most appropriate for today... um, for the most part. ;-) Someone actually showed this to me years ago; it was as hilarious to me then as it is now. If you know what the original song was it's even funnier, because the original song was just so wrong and raunchy. Let's just say it was originally about big bootays okay? I am not a fan of rap music, but this song is just too funny to me. Enjoy and please try not to take it too seriously okay? Have a happy Sunday!

HEAT WAVE! My First Vlog

Today I came home to an unpleasant surprise. However, in order to share today's story, I felt I needed some visual and audio accompaniment to properly convey my emotions on the matter, soooo I created my first Vlog. It's not much, but enjoy it anyway... or not. ;-) Just to forewarn you, I am easily entertained. ;-)

What's in a Name?

So, it's been over a 100 degrees the last few weeks or so and I've been driving around without air conditioning. I now know what a roast goes through! Yeesh! So I took my car in to get it fixed over the weekend. Well, they found the problem, but they didn't have the part they needed. After some research they discovered the part is no longer manufactured because my car is so old. It's only 15 years old! I'm telling you it still feels like the 90s were just a couple of years ago, but I guess cars must age like dogs – 7 years at a time. So, here I'm thinking I guess certain people are right (parental units), and that I'm going to have to get a new car soon. That thought does not appeal to me. That's because I don't have the money for a new car and I don't want to go into debt again – finally free, woo hoo (that's a whole other story)! Thankfully, today the mechanics were able to locate the needed part and I now have my air conditioning again. Yay!

Well, as I was trying to find new material for today, I stumbled across a new comedian (new to me anyway) – Scott Wood. He has some very interesting insight into car names that will stay with me should the day come when I have to break down (hopefully not literally) and buy a new car. Below are his thoughts. I'm also including a clip of comedian Michael Jr. who also has some fun with car names. I think I'm going to start paying a lot closer attention to the vehicles on the road. How about you? ;-)

Spiders Are Ferocious!

As I was searching for material for today's post, I happened to stumble across another routine by Brad Stine that really hit home for me (I am really starting to like this guy!). Here's a little background on why this routine spoke to me: Okay, I am sooooooo NOT a spider person. In fact, I was housesitting for my mom and step-dad one time and I went outside to call in the cat when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Two HUGE tarantulas were slowly crawling up the side of the house! I'm surprised I didn't leave behind a Cindy-shaped hole in the garage door as I went tearing back into the house! I immediately called my mom and exclaimed, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE MUTANT SPIDERS CRAWLING AROUND UP HERE!" Can you believe she laughed at me? Of all the nerve! LOL! The sad thing is I have that reaction to any spider I see! Although when they are the size of a quarter or so, I will dispatch them one way or another... if I have to. When they're the size of my fist though, like those tarantulas, you'll have to take care of them on your own because I'll be in the next county! That Roadrunner will have nothing on me!  So, in case I haven't made myself clear, I HATE SPIDERS!!! Now that you have a little background on the subject please enjoy this video by Brad Stine. He hits the nail on the head! LOL!

Happy Fourth of July!

Have a Happy Fourth of July everybody! In honor of this special day I created a special personalized music video with some help from that zany website JibJab! Enjoy and rock on! ;-D

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Whose Line Is it Anyway? Sound Effects: Noah's Ark

Back when I still lived it at home with the parental units and there was a tv in the house (no I do not own one anymore, that's another story) I used to watch that improv comedy show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Although sometimes they used innuendo and could get a little risqué, overall their stuff was kept clean (that's what the censors were for). There were times that show and the actors could have me laughing so hard I was crying and finding it very hard to breath. I have been a fan of improv since that time. If you have never heard of improv comedy, it's very easy to explain. The actors are given scenarios and they have to make stuff up on the spot. They do not know what one another is going to say, so that have to play off of each other. You never know what to expect, and the results can just be hysterically funny. The premise of "Whose Line…" was that the performers were given a variety of games/ skits to act out. Sometimes, they would use unsuspecting audience members. Below is one such game called Sound Effects. Two performers, Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, are to act out a scene which is assigned to them by the host, Drew Carey. Two audience members must provide sound effects for the scene. This was always one of my favorite games. Now sit back and enjoy Sound Effects: Noah's Ark. I hope you like it as much as I did! ;-D