Laughter

The story you are about to read was inspired by our Golden retriever, "Mei Li." She crossed the Rainbow bridge on Saturday September 24, 2022, but will live forever in our hearts as she has brought so much joy and laughter to our life's. You will understand why she is so important to this story before you reach the end.

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The ability to laugh is an innate ability we're born with. It's part of what makes us Human, as sure as blushing separates us from the other animals.

Laughter is so important to us as a species that we laugh before we speak. A baby will laugh in the first few months after birth and use it to communicate joy as sure as they use crying to communicate a need. It's a social interaction as much as, maybe even more, than talking is.

A baby’s laughter, to me at least, is one of the most contagious things on earth. Have you ever watched a baby laugh uncontrollably and not laugh yourself?

Genuine laughter shows genuine comfort and affects people around us. Have you ever found yourself laughing just because your friend is laughing? It’s contagious in the same way yawning is, and we can't help ourselves.

The benefits of laughter are many, both physically and mentally. It increases your oxygen level, which is good for your heart and lungs. It releases endorphins, which are our body’s happy chemical, and helps calm stress and relieve pain.

Laughter is a universal thing that we all share regardless of any and all differences that divide us.

Regardless of where you were born, or the colour of your skin, or which religion you practise or don't practise, or the value of your portfolio, or even the age of the skin you inhabit, laughter is one of the few things that makes us all the same.

If you put a person from every place on earth in a room and show clips of a baby laughing, I believe you will see us all become one.

Even though we all laugh, which makes us the same, we all have our own laugh, or laugh signature, which makes us unique. It could be a snort or cackle or a loud, boisterous guffaw.

My personnel favourite is my wife’s breathless giggle, which I’m powerless to resist and usually ends up with us sounding like a couple of baboons arguing over a banana.

I believe laughter is a powerful aphrodisiac, almost like a bird's mating dance. Genuinely laughing with another person creates an incredible bond as it shows our complete comfort with them.

If you want a happy life, and we all do, surround yourself with people that make you laugh and laugh with you. The ability to unabashedly release your signature laugh, no matter how silly it is, with another person is completely freeing to your soul. You feel at ease with this person and, in turn, feel at ease with yourself. This person is a keeper. They get you, and you get them.

I believe that above all else, genuine laughter is the key to a long and loving relationship.

“The couple that laughs together stays together.”

I also believe that genuine laughter between two people in a budding relationship is a key factor in the blossoming of that relationship into something much more.

Who wouldn't want to spend the rest of their life with someone whose sense of humour matched theirs and made them laugh every day?

As I said before, laughter is a strong aphrodisiac as most laughter is playful and not about jokes.

It’s most definitely a form of foreplay, like that rough and tumble tickling in bed, just before the main event.

I’ve actually laughed uncontrollably while having sex.

It was in the midst of one of those times when the stars aligned, and we both felt an overwhelming need at the same time. We were completely in tune with each other and unaware of anything else around us as we raced to the finish line. If this were an Olympic event, we were going to win the gold.

It turned into something akin to a wrestling match, as we rolled side to side and switched positions several times. We'd pushed our way through our whole bag of tricks and even added a few new ones along the way.

Because of our constant thrashing around, we became so entangled in the bed sheets we had to pause for a minute to untangle ourselves, laughing the whole time.

After a couple of minutes, we got back to the main event, with my wife working her way down my body to bring me back to full-on mode.

That’s when the accident happened.

We didn’t realize that we'd left the bedroom door open or that our Golden Retriever had decided to join us.

Right at the moment, my wife's face arrived at her intended destination; our dog jumped in the bed and rubbed its cold nose against my side. My hips sprang upward away from the intruding nose, and a fully erect part of me slammed into my wife’s left eye.

Her eye started to swell and bruise almost immediately, and I stared at her, shocked at what I had done. She had her hand to her face feeling the area for damage as I searched for words to apologize. I didn't know what to say and looked at her worried until a large smile crossed her lips, and she burst into laughter.

At first, I was in shock, but her laughter was contagious, and I couldn't help myself.

I burst into laughter, and as we both lay back on the bed, unable to control ourselves, the dog snuggled in between us and I swear to God, that dog had a smile on its face.

We stopped laughing after a little while, and my wife smiled and said, “How am I going to explain this at dinner tomorrow?”

I didn’t think about it until that moment but knew what she was talking about. We were having six close friends, three couples, over for dinner and drinks the next night.

Looking at my wife, it was apparent that she would have a black eye the next day, so I asked if she wanted to cancel. As they were our closest friends and we rotated dinner dates amongst our houses, she said it was ok; she would just make up some lie to tell.

The next day her eye was black and blue, and she looked like someone had punched her.

Even though I didn't feel good about it, she insisted on joining me on a trip to the supermarket to pick up some things for our dinner party. I could feel the eyes on us as soon as we walked into the store. Here was this rather large white man with a small Asian woman who was sporting a black eye. To me, it was obvious what people were thinking, but my wife didn't seem to notice or care. She was her usual happy self, picking the best vegetables and fruits for our party, as she ordered me around, making me fetch this and that. As we checked our items at the cash, I could see a few people glancing our way and murmuring to each other. I felt embarrassed and angry but didn't know what to do about it as I didn't want to make a scene. I also knew that if I did say something in anger, it would only reinforce what these people were thinking.

While I helped my wife unload our cart, she noticed my uneasiness and asked me what was wrong. I rolled my eyes towards the people behind us, and she looked at them before looking back at me and asking, "What?" We finished checking out and were loading our bags when I whispered, "They think I hit you." She looked back at the people, then back at me before smiling that I love you smile, and started to giggle. That breathless giggle of hers that always gets me going and lightens my heart. We walked back to our car laughing and spent the rest of the day laughing as we prepared for our guests.

Just before our guests arrived, I asked her what she was going to tell them. She said, "Don't worry. I know exactly what to tell them." I was about to ask her what that might be, but the doorbell rang, and our friends let themselves in.

The difference between people you know and people you don’t was proven that day. As soon as everybody came into the kitchen and seen my wife, they started asking if she was ok and did she fall down or walk into something. Not one of them thought I had hurt my wife, not knowing that in a funny way I had. She was just finishing up what she was doing and told everybody to grab all the different dishes and bring them to the table, where she would explain what happened when we are all seated.

After we were all seated with a glass of wine and the laughter between good friends filled the room, my wife told everybody how she got her black eye. Her closest friend, Mary, had interrupted the small talk and asked, “So are you going to tell us what happened to your eye.”

There was silence as my wife took a drink of her wine before looking seriously at everybody, then pointing at me and saying, "He did it." They all looked, blank-faced, at me for a few seconds before starting to laugh, with Mary saying, "Come on. Tell us the truth. What really happened?"

My wife laughed and said, "I am telling the truth," before continuing with the truth and nothing but the truth. So help me, God.

As I said before, surround yourself with people who make you laugh and laugh with you. The rest of that evening was filled with laughter and good-natured ribbing at our expense, but I wouldn't change a second of it for anything.

Even “Mei Li,” our dog, was involved in the laughter as everybody thanked her for providing such a memorable event that would be joked about for years.

I swear to God that dog was smiling that whole night.