Laughing Out Loud (an Odd Request)

L

Laughter is such a great defense against depression and self-pity. My husband laughs a lot: big, deep, belly laughs at TV shows, jokes on the internet, unexpected sights, or a good pun. I once watched him slide off a sofa onto the floor involuntarily while a friend kept adding to an invented story about a flaming cow, unable to catch his breath or unbend himself because he was laughing so hard.
I absolutely love to watch this. Sometimes, he gets me laughing pretty hard. He’s incredibly funny. But usually it’s just a titter or a giggle or a grin.
I don’t seem to have an easily accessible belly laugh switch. Or at least that’s what I believed yesterday. And then I was reminded of mine. I could not catch my breath. When I did, I glanced at my computer screen and started again. And it lifted my spirits. Guess who I couldn’t wait to tell? I was grinning a big grin at him the moment he walked in the room.
I am a sucker for typos. Not misspellings, but genuine typos, where the finger hits some other key and types “lover function tests” instead of “liver function tests” or the ear hears what others intend to sound like “Lead On, Oh King Eternal” and it ends up on paper as “Lead On, Oh Kinky Turtle.”
I cannot stop myself when I see one of these. I burst out laughing. I can’t wait to repeat it, but I can’t get it out before the belly laugh begins again. If I close my mouth, my abdomen quivers, my shoulders twitch, and suddenly I hear a snort I don’t recognize as my own. I have no idea why. But who cares? It works!
Except for the first five times I read Eats, Shoots and Leaves, moments like reading the already delivered proposal to a key client earnestly promising to “thoroughly profread every document we submit” have been pretty far between. There are often one or two of these in Jay Leno’s Headlines segment, but I don’t get to see it very often.
And that’s why I am making my odd request. We’ve got some tough months ahead of us, in a new home far from others on the top of a mountain, after several years of piece-of-cake condo living. We know the snow and wind will make some days pretty rough, and our first snow shower was yesterday! The TV will keep my wonderful husband laughing, but I want to find a daily source of belly laughs for myself.
Who better to ask than you? If you know of a daily email with misunderstood titles, a funny typo hashtag on Twitter, someone I should follow on Facebook, or a new book like Eats, Shoots and Leaves, I beg of you to share it. It could strengthen our marriage. How can you resist?

About the author

Patty Newbold

I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.

9 Comments

Leave a Reply to Laima Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

By Patty Newbold

Patty Newbold

I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.

Assume Love in Your Inbox!

Read About

Recent Comments

Popular Posts

Visit Patty’s Other Site

Enjoy Being Married logo

Archives

Social Media