Dark Valleys & Nose Picking

Before the phone rang I was reaching for it. I knew with all certainty that the sound of the phone would pierce the darkness to inform our family that Grandpa had just passed away. With tears of loss already stinging my face I brought the phone to my mother knowing I was handing her heartbreak on the other side of the phone. I knew I’d be answering the call from my mother’s brother just shortly after the holidays. I had been expecting the news that Grandpa had folded his hand and left me to play solitaire all day.

      

I remember the day when the terrorist attacks hit closest to home for me. I had planned to go to the Oktoberfest in Munich but decided at the last minute that I just didn’t feel like going anywhere at all. I was all alone at home when the phone rang and frantic voices on the other side of the ocean were calling to see if we were okay. I could feel my body go numb as I realized I could have been there.

The summer I burned down my kitchen I learned that sometimes life displaces you and yet you still have to go about the business of living. I was living life at a million miles a minute and seconds after I realized my mistake I turned towards my kitchen to face a wall of fire. It happened that fast and in a flash our brand new very first house was on fire.

Everyone has their valley of darkness stories. There simply are times in life that we all spend in a dark valley and feel as though we are climbing up against a current. That is the ebb and flow of life and luck has nothing to do with it. There were times in life when we simply don’t know how to take the next step or if we are even moving forward. Even during crisis find a way to laugh hard.

My dad is gifted at spotting the one kid in a stage performance that is picking his nose which sends my dad into restrained hysterics. And his attempt at holding his laughter makes it all even funnier. Tear stream down my dads face in between snort filled laughter as holding back his laughter makes him laugh harder. Make it your New Years resolution to look for the kid who is picking their nose and let the laughter out even when you are in your valley.

Life takes the wind out of your sails sometimes. I’ve been there a few times when the air feels dead around you and the emotional crisis has stolen the actual strength to get out of bed. Laughter has been the universal language of healing in my life and the wonder of it all is that laughter is contagious. New years resolutions are only empty words until you breathe life into them with action. Breathe life into all of your New Year’s resolutions.

Comments

[Rosary]

My name is Rosary and I would love to thank you for starting my the New Year off with a huge laugh. I just got thru reading your article (sorry for your loses), then I reached the part where you were recalling your memory of your dad. I didn't even get a chance to read all of it, before I started to laugh so hard, that tears were actually coming down my face. I was happy that I was alone. I could actually see your father trying to keep his laughter inside of him, and looking at that little boy with his finger in his nose.

Bless you for that and thank you again.

I would love to say thanks to everyone at Essential Wholesale for the beautiful newsletters you send me. I have saved every one of them and enjoy reading all.

[Kayla]

dM,
I remember when you were going through you valley's and I'm so glad to have been your friend during it. You are a true testimony to going about the business of living. There is nothing like a good tear jerking laugh with a friend during any time of life. I love sharing laughter with you.

[Donna Johnson]

Kayla,

Thanks for this post. It's so real. So honest. So gut wrenching. It reminds me of how I felt, and still fee at times, when my dear father passed in 2007. And then, the time when my husband was ill and I had to take care of him and our toddlers children for years. Through it all, laughing with people like you got me through. Thank you for all that you do through this blog and elsewhere. And thanks for being my friend.