Funny Does It

The older I become I more vividly realize how life seems to come faster than before. Maybe, I am just becoming more measured than before. Either way, life does not slow often enough these days. As a parent, this seems to be a constant yank-and-tug back and forth between the obligations you have committed to and the family who needs and expects your undivided loyalty. Don’t think I am complaining because I am not. I realize I am blessed with the life I share with my wife and daughter and with family and friends.

Still, the day-to-day sometimes weighs heavy on a body. Work and worry often spoil the good part of life while eating away at time and energy. Even though I feel I have been around long enough to know how life ebbs and flows, I am continually amazed how in a low moment something unexpected happens to make me refocus and better appreciate my life.

That said, recently one evening at home, we exercised our regular routine. Homework was completed while supper was cooked. Afterward, we sat at the dining room table to talk with each other while we ate a meal together. The kitchen then had to be cleaned and Hannah needed a bath before bedtime. This night though we were super-efficient. When I wiped off the last kitchen counter to walk into the living room, Hannah still had some time before getting ready for sleep. She then urged me to watch her perform some gymnastics.

I admit I was not sure what my role was to be in all this. Frankly, I was tired from a day at work and really wanted to just sit down for a few minutes. Hannah persisted. I soon found out I was nothing more than a semi-active spectator. She asked me what gymnastic moves I would like to see her attempt. I had to admit to her I wasn’t very informed about gymnastics lingo. She rattled off six or seven things she could do. I caught the name of maybe three things.

For the next few minutes, I called out the name of some maneuver so Hannah could attempt it. I found out I not only am unfamiliar with gymnastics terms but I also have no idea if she was performing those moves correctly. None of that seemed to really matter. She flipped this way, cartwheeled that way and balanced on her hands against the wall.

At one point though, she tried something and it went humorously wrong. She started laughing. This gave me permission to laugh as well, which at that moment was much easier to do than to hold the funny inside. We laughed for a few seconds. I soon realized that part of her laughter was watching and listening to me laugh.

She then looked at me and said, “I love to hear you laugh.” That hit close to home as making others laugh is one of my favorite things to do. She then proceeded to half-heartedly mock my laughter. We both laughed some more.

Time passed. It was soon time to get ready for sleep. After Hannah and Jennifer had turned in for the night, I sat alone with one solitary lamp lighting a corner of our living room. The busyness of just a few minutes earlier had faded into a peaceful quietness. Funny, how I was still tired but I felt somehow revived. I thought about that laughter we shared and that moment in time. I understood how laughter, as advertised, is good medicine. I was also very grateful our daughter embraced laughter enough, even at her own expense, to share it with me. I pray that no matter how old she gets she will understand how a good laugh will always be good for her soul.

Happiness is good medicine, but sorrow is a disease.
~Proverbs 17:22

Road Trip: Rear View Mirror

I’ve written about road trips a great deal the last few years. Getting in a car to go somewhere doesn’t seem to generate a great deal of excitement to some nowadays. Allow me now to get out my old man soap box to climb on so I can say back in my time going somewhere was usually some adventure. Folks once got in a car just to go on a Sunday afternoon drive. My generation drove our hometown from one end to other every weekend for years. It did not matter that the drive took no more than five minutes but it was something you just did back then. In our teen years, it sure seemed as if all of us were bursting at the seams to get our license to drive. It was a major deal. It no longer seems that way. We all have too many gadgets to get lost in these days. And some allow themselves to live off of generated fear to even consider living a normal life anymore.

I can recall that itch to drive when I wasn’t old enough to do so legally. In some way, learning to drive was intimidating. I remember driving backroads near where we lived just getting the feel of how a car operated. I could feel the power of the car just by having my foot on the gas pedal. I had to learn not to stomp on the brake pedal without giving others in the car a concussion. Then there was the challenge of a manual transmission. It became all about rhythm, a type of dance with the car on an asphalt dance floor. Deep down I just knew I could learn to drive but that this time learning, which seemed to last forever, was all that stood in my way from my own adventures behind the wheel.

At some point, I understood driving would just become part of what is done each day. I was right. It has. Of course, as with many things you imagine when you are still greener than grass and so wet behind your ears that it appears sweat has soaked your neck, I envisioned it all differently than what it became.

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I just knew I would live forever in faded blue jeans and flannel shirts. I knew I would somehow end up with a truck or some type of Jeep or International Harvester truck. I envisioned myself standing with one foot on the ground and the other on the entry into the vehicle. Behind me a creek flowed in the background deep in some woods somewhere. I could see myself barreling through the North Georgia mountains with the sun always positioned in a place where I would not need sunglasses so I could always see things in their true colors. The eight track player would be playing Bob Seger or The Allman Brothers.

Life, of course, turned out differently. I am not sure if somehow I had been able to live out that dream from long ago if I would have enjoyed it. You just never know some things. Nowadays when we load up for a road trip I pretty well know the plan. We share driving duties often. That, at times, is a bit of a change for me, as I tend to like being behind the wheel. Either way, as we ride down the highway and the hum of the tires on the road turn into some quiet melody, I envision myself riding through the sunny mountains. I have my window rolled down and my left arm on the top of the door as the wind tickles the hair on my arm. I tilt my head slightly to the left, look in my rear view mirror, and, somehow, return to the here and now.

Playlist for Road Trip: Rear View Mirror

The Allman Brothers Band "Ramblin' Man"
Lee Roy Parnell "On The Road"
Beck "The Golden Age"
The Pretenders "Middle of the Road"
Rolling Stones "I'm Gonna Drive"
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band "Still The Same"
Alan Jackson "Drive (For Daddy Gene)"
Linda Ronstadt "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"
Eddie Rabbitt "Drivin' My Life Away"
The Doobie Brothers "Rockin' Down The Highway"
REM "Drive"
ZZ Top "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide"

Slice of Life

Clouds moved in. Rain seemed eminent. Thunder sounded as if had just tumbled across the ground.

An overhead light in the form of three separate bulbs lit up our living room. The television was on but had been paused for homework to be completed. The actors stood frozen in time on the screen with their facial expressions locked in odd contortions. Our front door stood open with our glass door keeping the outside world from us but ajar enough so we could still spy into our yard.

On the couch, Hannah did school work. Her task was to read a book for twenty minutes. As she read her book out loud, she occasionally broke into song. The words of the book, thirty pages about dogs, became lyrics. Once I thought I recognized one page about beagles being set to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. It was still August but I hummed along anyway.

Startled by the thunder, Kayla, our cat, hopped off the stairs onto the living room floor. She had only taken one or two steps before our dog, Sadie, tauntingly pranced around her. Kayla, unamused at her nemesis, stopped to hiss a protest and take a half-hearted swat at the dog. Sadie barked, hopped on two legs then tried to engage the cat in playtime once more.

Jennifer, busy in the kitchen, stepped into the room to survey all that was going on at the moment. Fresh from assisting Hannah with math homework, her eyes briefly met mine. Her eyes and my eyes both seemed to glaze as if we were both a bit overwhelmed at the chaos of the moment.

We know each other well enough to know that the look was not one of giving up or turning away. It was a look of two people who understand how God has blessed as a family. This is what we wanted, what we prayed for, and now what we have. These are the days we once dreamed to live.

There are days when life is crazy. There are days when things seem to pile on top of each other. There are days when there is little fun to find, and, frankly, those days can be difficult to navigate.

There are days though when we listen above the noise and look over the disorder and cut past the worry. We realize there is so much more going on than noise, disorder and worry. It’s the slice of life that makes any unpleasant parts of life not seem so bad after all. It is a dream come true, and a dream that is better than we ever imagined.