Nothing beats a good, hearty laugh. One of the times I’ve laughed hardest was one of the saddest times of my life.

I was standing beside my dad’s casket, and a boy, about six years of age, peered at the body of my deceased father and said to me, “You know,” as he tilted his head, “dead people…they don’t really bother me.”

And in the next instant, a door slammed inside the funeral home. The kid nearly jumped out of his skin. I immediately doubled over in laughter. Something had to break the despair that had filled the room, not to mention the emptiness from our soul’s distress.

Dad’s been gone thirty years now, but I can still recall that memory and how, when it seemed there was nothing in the world that could force me to crack a smile, a kid’s comment and what followed will forever split my sides.

And as fun as my father was, and forever the jokester, I’d bet he probably had something to do with that door slamming.

In the darkest of hours, there is someone or something that can usually flip on our laughing switch. And I love how life works that way!

Kathryn Kaufmann ©  May 28th, 2019