Laughter is medicine for the soul

3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance

I must admit that when I was grieving it was very hard to crack a smile, or even respond with laughter to something that was funny.  I read that it takes more muscles to make a frown than it takes to make a smile. No wonder a person who grieves is exhausted at the end of the day.  They may not have a very productive day work wise, but they are dog gone tired none the less.

There were two friends that are real good about assuring that a person's funny bone is tickled and these two friends had me laughing  each time we got together for breakfast after Maria died. Joe Lovitt and Ken Kalamaha are two very good friends of mine  who were there to help turn my weeping into laughter.

 Ken and I became friends through the Crystal Single Adults group at Crystal free church.  He and I had fun coming up with creative ways to date our girl friends. When the four of us got together Ken had me literally  laughing so hard that I would be on the floor.  Our most memorable 4 some was when Ken and I decided to surprise our girl friends by taking them to the Minnesota State Fair  IN STYLE. That is right.  We rented a limo to pick our girl friends up and the 4 of us sat in this STRETCH limo and enjoyed the scenery UNTIL we got to the SNELLING AVENUE TRAFFIC!  We had so much budgeted and when we noticed the traffic we decided to get out 2 blocks away from our arrival and walk the rest of the way.  To this day I get the giggles when I think of this memorable date.  Remembering this date is a reminder how important it is for us guys to always think ahead and come up with and refreshing ideas to court our spouses, especially when we are in the season of life of grieving.

Joe Lovitt is another good friend we originally met in our Homebuilder's Sunday school class at church.Joe and his wife Jenny have written and directed numerous drama's that have impacted the people who watch them. I remember my wife and I attending one of Joe's stand up comedy routines and thinking to ourselves what a joy it was to actually be laughing instead of mourning.I guess the thing that really gets me in the mood to laugh is to remind myself that our loved ones are right now exercising their funny bones!  Heaven is going to be a rip roaring good time like the words from Owl City's 'always a good time'.

 Ken and Joe are two guys that had me laughing so hard that my ribs cage would hurt. The only time I would not recommend  laughing this hard would be after you had open heart surgery and your chest was being held together with staples.  Ouch. Come to think of it these two guys should come with a warning label: Warning, laugh at your own risk. Avoid laughing after surgery.

Everyone who travels the grief road needs to have at least a couple of friends who are good at bringing the lighter side out of you every now and then just as Proverbs reminds us.  Yes, comedians are a gift from God. Laughter is good for the soul!  Actually that is my paraphrase version!