A Time to Laugh...

Solomon, writes in the  book of Ecclesiastes (in the Bible) that there is a season for everything and a time for every purpose under heaven, including a time to laugh and a time to cry. Who amongst us haven't had our share of tears? But laughter? Lord knows I could use more.
We usually associate tears with sadness and laughter with joy. But sometimes, we find ourselves laughing THROUGH the tears. Not BECAUSE of the tears, but more often, IN SPITE OF the tears.
When my daughter, Amy, was sixteen, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. the tumor was called an ependymoma and was attached to the brain stem. When the tumor was discovered, it was found to be at "critical mass" requiring near immediate emergency brain surgery. The next several hours and days were beyond traumatizing for me. As a mom, I felt incredibly helpless. It was all so "out of my hands."
Amy came through the surgery wiithout incidence. She was blessed to have a renowned brain surgeon from Duke University Hopital in Durham, NC do the honors of (safely) removing a tumor the size of an egg from her brain stem( a very important part of the brain which adjoins to and is structurally continuous with the spinal cord.) Because of the obvious risk, Dr. Fuchs had to leave a tiny remainder of the tumor attached, so as not to severe the brain stem from the spinal cord or damage the connecting nerves that controlled various sensory and motor skills, like sight, for instance. Because of this, Amy underwent 60 treatments of radiation therapy. Twice daily, 5 days a week, for 30 (not consecutive) days.
In the days and weeks following Amy's brain tumor diagnosis,  I learned some astounding lessons, one of which was the healing virtue of laughter. Time and again, Amy's hospital room would fill with people and laughter would soon follow. Sometimes, I cried until I laughed and other times, I laughed until I cried. And more than once, I just laughed and cried all at once. I remember laughing so hard, my sides literally hurt. And it "hurt so good."
I have been a person who tends to take myself and life all too seriously. Amy always was a pretty laid back kid (who has grown into an equally laid-back young woman.) A quality I do not naturally come by. Amy seemed always to be telling me, "Ah, lighten up, ma, don't take everything so seriously." And I would inevitably come back with some statement like, "Well, SOMEBODY has too! No one else does!" Talk about trying to reign as ruler of the universe!
As with most things, it didn't happen overnight, but it did happen. Little by little, I let loose and learned to ALLOW myself (and my kids!)to have fun. Sometimes one of Amy's sister's would join us on our daily jaunts from Garner to Durham.

And as the days of radiation therapy ticked by, the laughter and lightness increased and the tension and stress lessened. We made friends with other patients, the parking lot monitor, the nurses...told stories, played practical jokes, skipped in parking lots, laid on our backs in the grass and went swinging on playgrounds. We donned our  Groucho Marx glasses, rolled down the windows and  cranked up the radio in five o'clock traffic, and sang at the top of our lungs. In short, we lived "out loud." We laughed, not because all the circumstances in our lives were right. Not because we weren't surrounded by world's of pain every day. Not because we had no cause for worry. Not because we had guarantees. We lived the minutes and hours. We laughed because we COULD.

And I think we all were  profoundly  GRATEFUL. We were ALIVE RIGHT NOW!
I learned to ditch my "pessimistic spectacles"...at least for a time. When did I pick them up again?? Or why? God, thank you for the memories...for the reminder. Life is to be LIVED. People are for LOVING. And LAUGHTER HEALS.

Grace for the way,
Becky


PS...I should note that Amy has been married to Tony for four years and they have a beautiful five month old son, named Evan Isaac. At 22, Amy is cancer-free and still loving life.