Fred,

I love reading your WOH. Thanks for thinking of me. The one of laughter hit a nerve in a good way. Growing up I had the good fortune of a mom and aunt, twins, who would spontaneously erupt in laughter as if on cue. It didn’t matter if we were in a movie or out somewhere they would lose it so to speak. As kids we got to the point when we went to a movie that we would sit away from them because they would erupt in unison laughter even when it wasn’t a funny part of the movie.

To this day, I can think of them in those situations and begin laughing even as I am writing this email. I am due however for a bellyaching laugh that you have a hard time stopping your laugh.

My father in law was a joke teller and I became his greatest audience because even if I already heard his joke previously and knew the punch line would laugh and the rest of the family would shout a number like 56 or 22 to indicate that his stick was so old they had numbered his jokes.

One night we were sitting down to dinner, he at the head of the table, and everyone including the grandkids at the long rectangular table. He turns to me matter of fact tone and asks if I know how to make leek soup. I respond with no, how? He says, in a stone face, first you take a leek. I apologize if this is somewhat dirty, but I lost it. For the next 20 minutes at dinner, I couldn’t control myself. My brother in law was upset at him for telling that at the table with the kids around and the more I snickered, the more he got upset, and my father in law beamed with pride that one of his jokes had that kind of effect on someone. To this day I can’t look at a leek or here that word without beginning to laugh.

I am truly blessed that I can laugh in that way.

thanks for reminding me. This ability to laugh at a moments notice is a gift from my mom and aunt and one I cherish.

Peter

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