I truly enjoy hosting friends and family in my home.  I don’t put on a fancy affair.  It’s just Silo Red Cups and Dixie Paper Plates in my home.  Depending on the amount in attendance, we attempt to sit the adults around our dining table.  On that table sit two clear plastic cubes with cards inside, TableTopics Originaland Tabletopics – What Would You Do Edition.  The cards inside have questions on them.  They have so many editions to choose from now.  I prefer the Original questions.  These questions always make for interesting table conversations when we’re hosting.

One of my favorite questions, since it’s the easiest for me to answer is, “What is your favorite noise?”  Laughter.  Laughter is the best noise I’ve ever heard.  There are a lot of beautiful noises in this world, but laughter really is delightfully infectious.  I especially love the laughter of children.  They’re so pure and joyful.  I can’t help but smile, no matter how down I am, when I hear laughter.

The morning my Mom passed away was an incredibly sacred and special moment.  There were many tears and heartache, but there was something I hadn’t expected.  There was laughter.  I laughed that morning.  I laughed more than seemed possible.  As I sat there with my brothers and our spouses, I laughed.  I didn’t find it irreverent either.  My Mom loved to laugh.  She found humor in unexpected places.  Whether it was a too-big-Christmas-tree, a garage sale gone bad, or a refrigerator stuck in a stairwell, she would laugh.  Perhaps that’s why it didn’t seem inappropriate to laugh at such a time.  She would have done the same with us.

“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”
– Marjorie Hinckley in Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley

She’s right, it does give me a headache.  Certainly, I’ve cried my fair share of tears in life.  However, I’d like to believe that I have met more moments with laughter than tears.

I was reminded again today of the joy of laughter.  I think it does more than just lighten a mood or brighten a day.  It gives a bit of hope to life.  The laughter on that mournful morning of my Mom’s passing was filled with hope.  A hope that it would all be okay.  We would be able to still find joy in a world that at that moment seemed so unfair.  Something I watched today confirmed that laughter is a symbol of hope in my eyes.

This past Saturday, we had a fire here in town.  You could see it from most anywhere you were in the city limits.  It was that bad.  Shortly after the flames were put out, we received an e-mail informing us that the home on fire was that of a family who attended our church.  The fire started in their living room and took the whole house up in flames with it.  Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

A family of five lived in the home; parents, two teenage daughters, and a young daughter.  The mom took footage of her first time walking through the house to evaluate the damage.  In the video, she walks through the charred remnants of the home and cries as she attempts to explain which “room” she is standing in.  It’s heart-wrenching.  Just before the video comes to an end, I heard something in the back.  It was laughter.  It was the laughter of a young girl.  Innocent laughter.  It brought me hope for the family.  I, obviously, have no idea the devastation this family must be feeling.  It pains me to even comprehend the possibility of losing all my pictures alone.  But then there is that laughter.  An unharmed little daughter is laughing.  There is hope.

I feel fortunate to live a life with laughter.  Sometimes it’s harder to find the humor in life’s setbacks.  When that’s the case, I like to turn to these little gems to brighten my day.  I giggle every single time.

The greatest noise is laughter.  Live a life filled with it!