I believe in laughter, spending rainy weekends shoving hot chocolate marshmallows into my mouth with Sister. What is laughter for? I believe God uses laughter to heal the soul. A soft cool breeze cleansing a person as it flows in and out of their body, giving them peace and serenity, a smile. Laughter can do so much with little effort. Many times it requires none, just a living person ready to be amused by their outside surroundings. Even when life turns its back on me and my soul is drained, I always have laughter to make me forget it all.
Laughing is very much part of my culture and family. That’s all we do. Laugh. Mother and Tia Lolita never fail at this. Whenever my aunt comes to visit, Mother and Tia Lolita always have one night designed for this laughing fest. Usually it’s the first. It’s unavoidable and loud. I never understand their jokes. The whole room is filled with their short chuckles and long gasps for air. It always starts with the deep and meaningful conversation. They sit with a glass of red wine in their hands, smile and comfort each other. Financial and spiritual problems are the main consistency of what is brought up. They pray for each other and praise God for his blessings. Tears of sorrow and joy fall into their napkins. They wipe away each other’s tears, smudging mascara across their faces. One begins to burst out laughing and the other follows. I guess they enjoy seeing each other look like a mess. They can’t help but to make fun of each other and fill the whole house with intense laughter and the scent of stale peppermint gum. Somehow this need to laugh causes a need to drink more wine. Soon enough their napkins are soaked from tears of laughter and the wine bottle is empty. Seeing this, Father goes to the fridge and opens another for their delight. I can’t help but laugh at his attempts to make Mother and her sister even more intoxicated. I think he enjoyed seeing her happy. Even though Father wasn’t part of their conversation of giggles, he also felt that laughter just being around them. It’s that laughter that filled us all in the house. Even if we didn’t know what it was about it latched on and crawled its way into our souls. It is not only contagious but it heals and makes me cast aside the worries for a moment.
I believe laughter not only heals my soul but opens up my heart to hope. Laughter forgives and it forgets. I have never seen a person scream and shout at a rock after tripping over it. Instead, I see laughter. Whether directed at myself, an awkward moment, or after a trying time, God uses laughter to heal it all. Laughter helps me forget my troubles and fills my napkins with tears of good times and my pants with little accidents.