One of my favorite authors (who is also one of my grandchildren’s favorites) is Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.  Among the many, many rhymes he wrote is this one:  From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.

He was right.  Funny things are everywhere, and the ability to appreciate humor is a wonderful gift.  I have had many occasions to laugh over the years.  You probably have too.  Here are some favorite funny experiences from my own life

I come from a long line of talking women.  I mean, we talk so much and so fast that if two of us are together, we routinely talk over each other.  One day my mother and my sister Pam were shopping at Wal-Mart.  This shopping trip took them all over the store, and each woman pushed a shopping cart.  My sister bought more things than my mother, who mainly just strolled along with her cart and talked. When it came time for them to check out, my mom looked down into her cart.  Somehow, distracted no doubt by her conversation with my sister, she had abandoned her own cart and had begun pushing a cart full of women’s, white, lace-up canvas shoes that were waiting to be stocked!  She and my sister had no idea when or how that happened or for how long she had been pushing those shoes through the store.

Recently I had minor surgery to have a benign cyst removed from my wrist.  The procedure required anesthesia, so I was taken to the recovery room after the surgery was over.  I awoke there to find my faithful husband standing at my bedside.  He took my hand, rubbed it gently, and said sweetly, “It’s a girl.”

My sister Joni and I share many of the same traits.  What she likes, I like.  What she hates, I hate.  We live 500 miles apart so we don’t get to spend as much time together as we would like.  Several years ago our family drew names for Christmas.  I drew Joni’s name, bought a pretty sweater for her, wrapped it up and took it to our family Christmas party.  When the time came for opening presents, I noticed that not only had I drawn Joni’s name, but she had also drawn my name.  Excitedly I opened my Christmas gift and, much to my surprise, found the sweater I had bought for Joni.  I lifted it from the box and exclaimed, “Oh, I opened the wrong box!”  “No, you didn’t,” Joni said, holding up the gift she had just taken from her box.  “You opened the right one.”  Though we lived and shopped 500 miles apart, she and I had bought each other identical sweaters.

When our daughter Lara was three or four years old, she loved jewelry and wanted to wear earrings “like mommy.”  I explained to her that she could not wear my earrings because she did not have pierced ears.  Knowing how much Lara loved jewelry, her grandmother gave her some old clip-on style earrings to play with.  The first time Lara appeared wearing those earrings, they were clipped onto the very tops of her ears.  I asked her, “Why did you put those earrings on the tops of your ears?”  “Because,” she said, “you told me I can’t wear earrings like you do.”

Ah . . . humor!  Don’t you love it?  My family members are probably no funnier than yours.  Find occasions to laugh with them.  It will make all of you feel better.