Not quite a native Ripley Countian - she attended only her last year of high school in Doniphan though she taught in the R-1 system for 32 years - Teresa (Pearson) Lee delights in surprising readers and herself with anecdotal observations of life in general. Maybe you can blame her St.Louis roots for a quirky humor and some slightly-askewed opinions, but never doubt she writes from the heart.

Legacy of Laughter

Posted Thursday, June 16, 2022, at 9:41 AM

Doesn't take much some days to wind up my tickle box

For June 15, 2022

If one considers a legacy of laughter in counting blessings, I am indeed rich. Dad had a distinctive laugh I heard often. Mom’s was less boisterous, but she laughed heartily when she was tickled about the goings-on.

How precious are the memories of those times when joy was apparent in the smiles and laughter. Those laughs when you can’t stop are the best. Eyes water, tummies hurt, lungs gasp for air, shoulders shake and faces turn fire engine red. Those laughing spells might be loud and rowdy or silent with intermittent gurgling giggles. Hilarity is at its finest when you think it’s over - until a sideways glance triggers it again - or you can’t figure out what in the world is so funny.

However yours are, I hope you have some saved in your memory bank and live among folks that make them possible often. I’ve had them at home (whoopie cushions often involved), at church (those reverent times made irreverent by something totally random), at school (as a student and as a teacher), in a crowd or solo.

Words are often involved in my laughter episodes. Misinterpretations, misunderstandings and mis-hearings can fuel confusing exchanges that create marvelous mirth. I’ve had to excuse myself - to catch my breath or my composure or go to the bathroom - and I’ve been asked to leave - a preacher boy and I couldn’t stop laughing in the college library. We never did get to the bottom of that.

Laughter is beneficial. Smiles are contagious. Let’s seek out the joys and amusements of daily life and strive to create them - for ourselves and those around us. “In ‘laughter’ the ‘l' comes first. The rest of the letters come ‘aughter’ it.” (Unknown)