You Have To Laugh

my clever blog title explained:

In light of Shelley's week (thanksgiving week will forever be Shelley week) I thought I'd share the story.

A few years ago Shelley and I joined Carol, Paul, and the boys on a trip to Orlando. Shelley's ALS had recently begun progress more rapidly and she was in a stage between a walker and a new motorized scooter. She hadn't been using the scooter for long and she could still get around with out it so she wasn't very used to it. One night after a long day at the amusement parks we were all unwinding by the pool. It was late and the boys had gone to bed and I was lingering up reading. The "adults" (hehe) stayed out late by the pool drinking multiple glasses (or bottles?) of wine. Shelley drank her wine through a straw from the comfort of her new scooter.

When they finally decided to go to bed we encountered a slight problem. As some of us may have experienced when sitting down for a long time consuming alcohol, the effects tend to hit us pretty hard when we get up. So when Carol and I went to help Shelley out of her scooter and into bed we discovered that the combination of her recent alcohol consumption and her progressing ALS had rendered her absolutely incapable of helping us get her into bed. We tried many different creative strategies but we just could not get Shelley into that bed without almost dropping her. Each failed attempt caused us all to collapse in a fit of laughter at our predicament.

It was the kind of laughter thats so uncontrollable its crippling. Your start slowly not really knowing why your laughing and before you know it you cant stop. Your laughing so completely that you cant finish sentences, your not strong enough to lift anything, or think about any new strategic plans. The situation is just too funny and you almost don't want it end so that you can just go on laughing about it forever. In the midst of our giggles we somehow managed to plop shelley down on the edge of the bed and we all collapsed on the bed together laughing at ourselves. And through Shelley's giggles she managed to say,

"It's not funny. It's not. But you have to laugh. You just have to laugh. What else can you do?"

And she did. We all did.

There was, of course, nothing funny about ALS draining the feeling from her limbs and making it necessary for us to help her into bed. But Shelley was right. No matter what your going through, you just have to laugh. You have to enjoy every minute of your life and find a reason to smile at every situation.

So laugh often, laugh truly, and laugh deeply. For Shelley, for everyone we've lost, and for yourself.

And if you need something to laugh at right now... here you go:

Laugh it up fuzzballs<3