Laughter Joy
Laughter.
Unexpected
Tonic, joy, reviver.
We may disagree on what is
Humorous, but we must not give up our
Sense of wonder, never lose our
Natural urge to search for
Funny things, for
Laughter.
Copyright 2008 by Marlys Marshall Styne
Marlys seems to have a Rictameter for every day.
There are days when I find myself surfing. No, not that kind of surfing.
I never liked swimming, because after one minute immersion I would start to shiver and my teeth would chatter louder than a Reggae Band. The air might not be blue but my body certainly would be. Opening the freezer door in my house requires more preparation than a polar expedition! So surfing the ocean waves is not my kettle of fish.
My surfing takes place in warm surroundings while sitting comfortably, and the only extremities necessary are my fingers. You guessed it; I surf the Net!
Well it is better than golf! If I joined a Golf club in this country, I would be battered and soaked by the elements and only be allowed play on Lady’s day while listening to the latest gossip about who wore this, or how dreadful Flossie looked in that outfit. You know exactly what it would be like! The Bar always peopled by men, far too old and boring for membership of my Toyboy Club! Their only topics are about chips, slices, woods, irons and handicaps! Now I have enough handicaps of my own without taking on any others 
My surfing on the Net opens doors to new subjects and areas for exploration. I find them from links in blogs, shared items, online newspapers & magazines, emails and dear old Auntie Google 
One of my latest forays brought me to:
Mike Moore B.A. M.ed who is a Humorist - Author - Cartoonist – Musician.
I thank him and agree wholeheartedly with this little snippet:
“What People Learn Laughing They Never Forget”
“It is impossible to worry while you’re laughing.”
All I would add is that a day without laughter is a day wasted!
On my piece last Friday ‘The light went out…’ there were many comments. One in particular begged an answer.
Jo said
I know that people are meant to go, and have to go but I don’t know how we’re meant to find peace with it. I really don’t.
You are an inspiration, it’s true, your blog speaks of the pain of your loss but also so much of the joy you find in your life.
How do you stop a death like this from tinting every happiness afterwards with a little sadness?
Coming from a large family circle we had plenty of hatching, matching and dispatching. The first death that I actually remember was in 1955; our next door neighbour had a stroke and died a week later. They had no telephone so our number was given at the hospital for emergency contact. It was suggested that May the wife, might telephone every morning for a progress report (back in those days visiting was very restricted and children under 14 were not allowed). May arrived at our house every morning before 8am and we children had to stay in the dining room out of the way for the duration. May wailed like a tragic opera singer and refused to make the phone call, mammy had to make the call and pretend that she was May! My parents were loyal and supportive in every way. May died in 1992. She never stopped wailing and instead of bringing support it had the effect of turning people away. That left a mark on me.
My father was called on at times of family bereavements to make the funeral arrangements and he involved me in the practical arrangements. I learned the importance of making the ‘Lists’ they might take 10 minutes, but it saved time and hassle further down the line. I learned how to deal with, and in which order, the undertakers, the clergy, the press and the florists. Most important of all I learned how to tell people over the phone calmly that someone had died, remembering that I was giving them shocking news. That taught me to harness my emotions.
Over the years I have known and watched many people die, from elderly grandmother, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins to a baby niece who was a victim of sudden death syndrome. I have lost many close friends as well. Not all death effects on you in the same way. Some people leave a special indelible mark on your heart.
When my maternal grandmother died, mammy, daddy and I were with her. Later that evening daddy gathered my siblings and we went en-famille (sp?) to pay our respects. We gathered around the bed where granny was laid out, looking very solemn with her hands joined. We spoke in whispers. Why do we do that? Daddy told us to kneel and led us in prayer. Suddenly from the far side of the bed one of my younger brothers burst out laughing! Daddy frowned and continued with the prayer. Brother No.3 continued laughing and indeed got worse. Daddy stopped and asked for an explanation. “I keep thinking that Granny will open her eyes and say ‘Hah! I fooled you!’ said Brother No.3. That was Granny in a nutshell, and soon we were all laughing. Laughter of love not disrespect.
Jo, my husband was ill for six years. This gave us time to prepare, to say all that had to be said. Those six years were not all suffering and grief. The time was limited so we made the most of it. We had some very precious moments, the memory of which will live on in my soul. Jack was a good teacher of how to live; he had come through some difficult times in his life’s journey, I spoke about them here and here. I might not have felt like living on when he died, but I had Elly to think about and if I was to live as long as my mother and grandmother before me, I had 30 years or more to go and that is a long, long time to stay miserable. Misery breeds bitterness in my book
Those years were not all sunshine and roses either. My mother died eighteen months before Jack and Elly left the nest for University six weeks later. My good neighbour and friend faced surgery and chemotherapy I helped with her day to day care when she was feeling ill or low. I washed and creamed her feet each evening and this gave her great comfort. When we learn to wash each others feet, we peel away barriers and build friendship (I am beginning to sound like a preacher here!).
People suffering from loss or heartbreak find their body and mind reacting strangely even in normal situations. They experience mood swings. They sometimes avoid places and people that bring up nostalgic memories and can make them weep uncontrollably. Even when you can’t have your loved one back, you may still be able to move on with your life and become a stronger human being. The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. The best tribute we can pay a loved one is to LIVE!
“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
Will sent me a link about Obsolete Skills I was fascinated. I deleted about half of them, mainly the tekkie ones. AND the one about Cave Wall Painting. Huh! I certainly don’t go that far back! 
I hope I cut all the repeats, but I have done all of these 109 things at least once!!
Now if my list is not enough you can always go back to the Blog Post.
Adjusting rabbit ears on top of a TV
Adjusting a television’s horizontal and vertical holds
Adjusting a television’s color and hue adjustments
Analogue radio listening and tuning in
Calculating a square root using pencil and paper
Cash Register used manually entering the prices
Changing the ball or ribbon on your Selectric Typewriter
Cleaning the balls inside a computer mouse for better traction
Clicking on the up and down arrows of a vertical scrollbar
Operate a credit card imprinter (click-clack)
Getting off the couch to change channels on your TV set?
Getting to know your neighbors?
Going outside? (instead of editing pointless Wikis) 
Having your gas pumped for you and your oil checked at a full-service gas station
Knowing what part of town someone lives in by their phone exchange
Loading a reel to reel tape drive
Look for a job in the classifieds
Looking up a business on the yellow pages
Making an operator assisted phone call
Making change in shillings and pence
Manually loading ink on a fountain pen from an bottle
Memorizing Multiplication Tables
Mailing in the order form of a catalog?
Operating an agitator washing machine and clothes ringer
Operating an Overhead Projector
Peeling the developer layer off a Polaroid?
Peeling back a lid from an sardine can with a key?
Putting a needle on a vinyl record
Reading a dictionary or encyclopedia
Reckoning arithmetic without aid?
Repairing small appliances? (replaced element in the Iron)
Rewinding an audio cassette using a Bic pen*
Ripping the little holes off the sides of the computer paper
Selling something in the Classified Ads?
Starting a car that has a manual choke
Operating a Treadle Sewing Machine
Untangling the cord of a telephone?
Using a manual choke in cold weather
Using carbon paper to make copies
Using a mangle to dry clothes?
Washing clothes with a washboard?
Watching a slide show with a slide projector
Winding up loose cassette tape with a pencil eraser before putting the cassette in the deck
Worrying about important things?
A day without laughter is a day wasted. If that is the case then I have wasted two whole days. Perhaps its the weather and the lack of sunshine. I keep telling myself that it is, but in my heart of hearts I know that it is the approach of the jingly jangle season. No matter where you go you are deafened with ‘Sleigh Bells Ringing’ when in fact the only thing ringing are cash registers.
Everyone suddenly becomes so busy and can be heard chanting ‘I must do….’, ‘I have to do….’ or ‘We were invited to… and can’t get out of it!’ People rush about buying smelly soap for Auntie Jean when what she really needs is a bloody good meal and a couple of hours of attention. Does Uncle Peter have to have socks again for the twentieth time? Have you ever sat and listened to what he would really like? It might surprise you if you did.
Any day now I will be asked a question, well to be truthful I have been asked several times already “I suppose you will be going south for Christmas”? That is the way they ask questions in this town. I have a daughter down there and they assume that I will drive down to annoy her for the festive season. Why would I do that? Elly is newly married and has to be allowed to put her own stamp on how to spend Christmas.
I have had invitations over the years but having listened to various friends moan about having to invite mother, mother-in-law, sister, cousin or aunt when all they want is to be alone with their family, I decided that the best place for me was here in my own little castle. Inviting somebody one year might be wonderful, repeaping it year in and year out can become a drag for all concerned. I will get up when I like, cook the food I like, when I like, light the fire, have a drink and toast all my loved ones and friends, read a book or listen to some nice music and I can always watch a DVD on the computer even if I have no TV.
So if you meet me on the street don’t ask! Just wish me a nice quiet Christmas and you will have a friend for life.
May your Christmas be just the way you like it!
Cheerfulness removes the rust from the mind, lubricates our inward machinery, and enables us to do our work with fewer creaks and groans. If people were universally cheerful, there wouldn’t be half the quarrelling or a tenth part of the wickedness there is.
Cheerfulness, too, promotes health and morality.
Cheerful people live longest here on earth, afterward in our hearts.
- Author Unknown
If I were to name two people who answer this description, one alive and another who has moved on to the world of eternal cheerfulness they would have to be:
Not two but three people have marked my life and outlook forever.
My Maternal Granny lived in
We often stayed with her during school holidays. She loved going to the Cinema and regularly took us a matinee showing at the Green Cinema. It has long gone now, replaced by the St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre. The first film I remember from those days was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Granny’s house seemed so much quieter than ours, but then there were only two people in it in those days. The youngest of her sons was unmarried at that time and he was either at work or out with his friends. She would send me up to open his bedroom window when he had gone to work and when I was half way up the stairs she would call out to me “Don’t be looking at those Dirty Books!” This was always followed by a hearty chuckle. Copies of ‘Men Only’ were scattered in bundles all over his room. Naturally I had to take a look at what I was not supposed to see. I am sure by today’s standards they would be considered very tame. Do they still print them?
I remember one day at the lunch table the conversation turned to ‘Wooden Legs’! We must have talked about my Paternal Grandfather because he had a wooden leg! He died when my father was eleven so I never knew him or saw his wooden leg. I was young enough at that time to be a little wary of having a ‘wooden leg’ at close quarters. Granny not to be outdone told me that she had one, it was in the coal shed and after lunch she would let me see it! Sticking close to her skirts we headed out to the coal shed. It was dark inside and there was no light. She ventured into the shadows and lifted something rather heavy from along the back wall. I was ready to scarper as she walked towards me with the leg. “Now do you believe?” she asked and she placed a beautifully carved table leg in front of me! Oh Yes! She laughed heartily for hours afterwards.
Jack the love of my life. We are back to wooden legs again! He was a Burma Veteran. I have talked about this part of his life in earlier Podcasts called Our John Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 in March this year. He had a badly injured leg and walked with a slight limp. In fact he mastered it so well it was more like a skip! He always referred to it as his ‘wooden leg’. He had such a positive attitude to life, his bottle was always half full. No matter what dreadful thing I did he would say “Ah sure it is not as bad as a bad marriage!” He found fun and laughter in all we did. Our 21 years together passed like a short weekend.
Helen, a friend I met on holiday in
Helen’s life was crossed by many health complications over the years, but she never let this fact get her down. She is a true friend and when we talk or meet up the conversation flows without the gap of the weeks or months since we last spoke. There is one thing sure when I finish a phone call to Helen I feel like I have had a couple of weeks in the sunshine.
Remember: You don’t stop laughing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop laughing.
Now it is your turn…
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old:
You grow old because you stop laughing.
A day without laughter is a day wasted
Others laugh. They emit a series of short vowel-like notes, each around 75 milliseconds long, repeated at regular intervals
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old: You grow old because you stop laughing.
Laughter is a funny business. It’s part of human behaviour all over the world, irrespective of culture. It takes place whenever two or three people meet informally, when somebody else strokes our feet, when a four-month-old baby sees a familiar smiling face.
Laughter is the music of the heart.
of human behaviour.
Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the inside.
