Enter the Laughter Redeux

I tried to be cautious. I was casual, glancing around and smiling to cover up my indiscretion. I tried to be subtle, and to employ subterfuge to hide the truth. But I got caught. “Marti, you didn’t cover up B 12!” chided my mother-in-law. It was true. I’ve been doing it for weeks now. Cheating at BINGO. I just couldn’t bring myself to claim one of the prizes...a box of Kleenex or cereal from the table where the numbers caller sits, rolling the basket of colored, numbered balls. I was in a room full of munchkins (old people shrink, I was the only human being there who was over five feet tall) at the Senior Citizens Center, where I’ve driven my sweet mother-in-law to play bingo three times a week every since Pop passed. They had welcomed me with open arms. “Oh, you’re driving Maxine now! That’s wonderful, just wonderful!” Looking at their adorable little smiles, hugging them gently, (fearful of breaking them) I watched as they played their cards passionately. Seeing their anticip...

Boy: Mom asked us to write this message for her. Girl: Because she has been real sick. Boy: She wanted to wish all of you a Happy Valentine’s Day. Girl: And let you know she isn’t dead. Boy: That’s not funny, what’d you say that for? Girl: She told me to. Boy: But Grandpa just died, I don’t think people will think that is funny. Girl: Mommy said her friends are kind of twisted and they will laugh. Boy: Mom has pneumonia. I don't think she knows what is funny right now. Girl: HAD. She is getting better. Now it is more the dizzy and puking thing. Boy: Vertigo. She has vertigo. Don’t say puking, that’s gross. She told us to say she was vomiting. Girl: Hey, I am the one who has to dump the barf bucket, I know how gross it is. Boy: I don’t know why she wouldn’t go to the hospital. Girl: She said anybody who has ever worked at a hospital avoids them if they are conscious. Spike, the Cat: I am glad she didn't go to the hospital. Grandpa was in the hospita...

My father-in-law passed away this morning. It's a strange place I'm in right now. I am so sad, it is crushing. Yet I know that we all die. And I feel like he knew that Mom-in-law, with her Parkinson’s, wouldn't be able to care for him at home, even though that was what a part of him longed for. He was in a lot of pain. He knew that his quality of life was never going to be the same. He'd seen us all...my oldest son had stopped by, we'd been there, Mom-in-law was there, my husband’s brother and his wife were there. I am trying to be metaphysical about it, soul ascending to a higher plane, this lifetime is but a blink in eternity, all that sort of crap - lol But the moment is still so raw, it's hard. I can't begin to thank you all for your friendship. Love, Marti PS - he'll be in some good company at the newcomers lounge, with Art Buchwald and Molly Ivins, huh? PPS ~ I searched for words of wisdom form someone more clever than I, and ran across this...