Laughter - It Does The Body Good

I was hunched over my parent's kitchen table with tears running down my cheeks when I realized, "I've not laughed this hard in a long, long time." Jaime and I were visiting family and celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday this past weekend. It was good to see all my aunts, cousins, second cousins, third cousins... you get the idea. After the festivities, it was back to my parents house where we visited around the kitchen table like good southerners. However, as the night grew old things began to turn, well... a bit silly. That's why I was hunched over the table crying. We laughed and laughed. It was wonderful. Since Katrina, laughter, real laughter, has been illusive. I get so use to the fact that life is still very hard in New Orleans and I'm lulled into thinking things are normal. I forget that life use to be easier, smiles more plentiful, and when the good times rolled we really had a blast. It takes being around people unaffected by the storm who have that spark in their eyes, that we in New Orleans have lost, to make you feel like a whole person again. This weekend was an important reminder of the immeasurable value of family and the joy they bring to your life.