laughter...

the other day we went to the theater to see a movie with the kids. while listening to my husband's contagious laugh...

i was flooded with memories.

some of my first memories as a child are of my mother's laughter. she was one of those mothers who was very consistent in her discipline. on many occasions, she would try to keep from bursting into laughter when her children would do something funny and yet not appropriate at the given moment and she would fail at every attempt. she had the rare gift of laughing to the point of tears more often than not. my mom was 5 foot short. as a teenager, when we would be shopping together, i would often have trouble finding her among the clothing racks. we had this kind of inside joke that if we called out "mom", 10 moms might answer, but if we yelled "Bill" just one would answer (works especially well in the women's dressing rooms!) so i would call out, "Bill", instead of "mom" and knowing that she would find the humor in this every time i would be able to spot her because her whole body would notoriously "bounce" as she tried to contain her laughter.

i miss the sound of her laughter.

anyone who knows my husband, enjoys the sound of his laughter. over 20 years ago, my first attraction to him was this sound. there is an innocence of a child in every laugh. there really are no words to describe the sound but i can tell you how i feel when i am surrounded by his laughter....i am a child in the presence of God, i am the best of me, i smile from the inside out, i desire to make others laugh. i see that this gift is being passed on to our children.

i hope he never grows up.

oh...the precious sound of a baby's giggles. i remember the first time they each laughed that deep belly laugh. i treasure in my heart the times when they make each other laugh. i can proudly say that almost without fail, i know uniquely how to make each one of those frowns turn upside down. i love the simplicity of the things they find humor in and the contagious nature of a child's laugh. i don't want to miss one laugh or ever take for granted the beautiful sounds in our home at this stage in my life because one day...

i will miss the sounds of laughter.