I’ll take laughter over tears any day

Once again there seems to be way too much to talk about. So here it is, the mad and the funny:
People I can live without are haters. The poor man in Irving College who seems to be targeted by these kind of people on a regular basis really upsets me. I’ll tell you what I think is going on ‘ lack of tolerance.
Having tolerance means you live your life and you allow others live theirs. Even if the life they choose doesn’t match your own, why should it? They aren’t little clones of you. Everyone is different ‘ different views, different habits, different lifestyles, different religions ‘ so just deal with it and live your life while others live theirs.
Stress is a funny thing. Most people don’t realize how much damage stress can do to a person’s ability to think straight. Stress does that to me and my family a lot.
My mom was recently admitted to the hospital. They suspect she had another stroke. When she fell, she injured her arm and her hip. Most would think humor could not possibly find its way into this situation, but they would be wrong.
As we were waiting for my mother to get the once-over from a doctor, my sister looks at me and mom and says, ‘They’re going to get something for her arm.’
At that point, she paused for quite a while struggling with her memory under this much stress. Then she adds, ‘I can’t remember what it is they are getting to put your arm in. I’m wanting to say noose, but I know that’s not right.’
I absolutely lost it with laughter and so did my mom. A sling is what she was trying so hard to remember. But noose worked well when it came to relieving the stress.
By the way, she’s going to be fine ‘ by her account. Several years ago, she was given less than a year to live. Doctor’s don’t know everything. Most don’t factor in the human spirit.
The incident reminded me of one I had with my brother. As many know, my brother was diagnosed with cancer. That time was a very stressful time. As our only brother and the baby of the family, all of us felt the devastation just the mention of the word can bring.
As most people do, we began to go through the emotional roller coaster ride of what do we do to help, what are the options, which doctor would be best, how do we pay for it? And we thought about the worst-case scenario.
All our emotions aside, what exactly we were dealing with was the doctor’s concern. At that time, he was in Nashville and we were driving back and forth as often as possible ‘ almost daily ‘ and making calls on the days we couldn’t.
Once again, a stress reliever popped up. On one of the days I couldn’t make the trip from here to Nashville, I called. My brother sounded slightly drugged from the pain medication they were giving him when he said, ‘They’re going to do an autopsy on me tomorrow.’
I couldn’t help but laugh and he said, ‘I don’t know what is so funny. They are going to autopsy me and you’re laughing.’
I took a deep breath and said, ‘Don’t you mean they are going to do a biopsy on you. An autopsy is what they do after you die.’
He started laughing then, too. We both got really good stress relief from that little slip. It was even better when we repeated the conversation to everyone who would listen.
Per the biopsy results, he was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma. Treatment with chemotherapy and radiation began and he has been cancer free for the last year.
I know there is no way to avoid stressful situations ‘ like an illness in the family ‘ but bring on stress relievers anytime. When the options are laugh or cry, I’ll take laughter.
Lisa Hobbs is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191.