Laugh a Little, Love a Lot

As a disclaimer to those of you who read my blog - none of you are my "superlative relative." She is still wallowing in her misery after the WORST illness she thinks she's ever had!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but the thankfulness continues. This time of year is, by my own admission, very difficult for me. During my several years of deep depression, the holidays were almost unbearable. I'm better now, but still not completely past the apprehension I feel in crowds (even family), and the discomfort of stepping outside my comfort zone. Don's illness has taught me to be less uptight. Oddly enough, part of the time at least, he's been more apprehensive and tightly wound than I. That's a change. He knows and understands my problems with crowds and holidays, so he tries to be especially low-keyed during this time. That makes me love him more.

He also makes me laugh on a daily basis. He can be so sweetly silly - espcially when he doesn't mean to be.

On Sunday night, I let him out of the van, and I stayed behind to put the ramp back up and lock everything up. When I got in, he was just getting his coat off. He glanced at me as I took his coat and said, "Hi! How ya doin'?" I thought it was kind of an odd remark for him to make, and then I saw the color come creeping up his neck and face. He hadn't looked at me closely and thought I was one of our friends from church (don't know if the friend would be flattered about that). Thus the goofy remark. He was genuinely embarrassed. As a side note: his eyes have not been good since he had shingles in his left eye and lost the ability to focus it for a while. Whatever. Every time I thought about it during church, I got the giggles. (One of the things I used to scold my children for!) Then, when we got in bed that night, I would still giggle when I'd think about his red face when he realized it was his own wife he was talking to.

I'm thankful for the ability to laugh at life - even at my own expense. It's even more fun when it's at someone else's expense!