Laughing in the Face of Death.....

It happens.

In hospitals, at tragedies, after tragedies, when you first hear of bad news and when you have to face something bigger than anything you have ever had to face before.

People laugh.

My caravan burnt down with all of my possessions - I got a call to tell me that ....and I laughed.

My uncle was just put in his grave and my aunty laughed....and then she cried.

Laughter is the other side of the coin of crying - the same reflex that comes from your tummy.

Laughter is sometimes more acceptable than crying.

It is to me.

I once nursed a old woman who was brought into the ward by the police - she had been laughing non stop for a day and a night.

After administering a couple of doses of sedatives, she went limp like a rag doll and we took her off to her bed.

When we read her notes it explained everything.

She had woken up around midnight and found her husband of 40 years had died in bed next to her.

She got up and calmly rang the family Doctor - he arrived to a cup of tea and biscuits - she seemed calm and collected.

The funeral parlour came and took the body away. Family started to come through the night and everyone was amazed at how calmly she took it. Each day she got up and dressed and entertained and pottered around like nothing had happened.

The day of the funeral arrived and family was starting to worry how she would handle that.

She got up calmly, got dressed in her best clothes and went through the whole church service without a tear.

She drove herself to the cemetry and was standing there composed and calm.

The minister bent down and picked up a handful of earth, opened his notes and took a wrong step and fell into the grave.

She laughed. She shrieked - belly laughter just came out of her - for a day and a night she just didn't stop until we sedated her.

....and when she woke the next day - she cried. ....and cried and cried.

Laughter sometimes help you get to your tears, when you just can't bear to go there.

It's good to laugh.

...especially in tough times!

Email Mike...