Laughter Library

The last 12 months have reminded me to keep a sense of humor, and libraries have always attracted me.  So, I like this idea: build your own “laughter library” to have “on hand whenever you need it”.  — advice from Judy Dyer in The Highly Sensitive, page 63.

Have you ever watched a movie that made you cry and laugh?  I guess the first film that successfully did it for me was Bambi, Walt Disney’s 1942 classic.  Years ago The Princess Bride mixed romance with comedy in a way that got to my wife Kay and me.  Same effect when I watched it today.  Maybe I am sensitive ... and loving that mix of emotions.

A good friend of mine shares funny stories with me by text message, which would easily copy to my laughter library in iPhone Notes.  (Luckily there is no room for examples here.)  He likely finds them on the Internet and thinks I need to lighten up.  Often true, and I do; so why am I no good at telling jokes?  I may improve this year with a library in hand and friends who understand.

Adagio for Heartstrings

How can I describe the love I feel when hearing the slow, second movement?  Imagine sitting quietly by a warm fireplace on a winter night, close to someone you love, watching the yellow flames dance.  Add the notes of a second movement from a classic such as Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”) or Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1.  Top that with the indescribable love you both feel for each other.  (Kay & I called it study for Music Appreciation 101.)  Priceless.

That is how I describe my feeling some music evokes.  Worldly cares fade away, replaced by visions of orchestral glory, often with tears of joy.  Am I avoiding tasks at hand or renewing my spirit while slowing down? 

With a favorite second movement, I am treating my heartstrings to an adagio pace for a time.  I am feeling alive again ... with love.

Old Age Imagined

What was I thinking?  When I was 17, I honored old age and accepted an employment opportunity my wise father (48) recommended.  I was hired as a counselor at YMCA Camp Roger, responsible for 8-year-old boys — a different group each week of one summer.  I was also in charge of coaching soccer at camp, which prepared me for playing soccer in Argentina several years later.

At age 22, I grew to love old composers of classical music (brilliant in their teens, twenties, and beyond).  Dating my future wife Kay for Music Appreciation class studies at the U, the last thing that would have crossed my mind was old age.  Retirement planning started decades later.   As young marrieds, we looked up to our parents in their old age — wise, loving, serving, firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and financially successful.  I guess that is how I imagined our old age.

Serving a mission together as our parents did, fulfilled a lifelong plan we had imagined for our senior years.  Kay’s passing as a young grandmother was a complete surprise, as you can imagine.  All of our future travel plans, among other things, suddenly went out the window.  My subsequent return to our beloved Colonial Court, settling for the duration in a cozy studio apartment, was to end a long series of moves ... I imagined.

In our youth, Kay & I somehow knew we would be forever in love.  That is reality today, as always, for my young bride & me.