The Day Laughter Mesmerized.

A time for laughing. What is it about laughing? I mean, really belly-gurgling, falling on the floor, tears in your eyes, laughter. There's a space I go to when something tickles me that much. The other day I remembered the day I made my wife laugh that much. It felt beyond me to be able to bring her so much joy. We were watching a newscast, and they had a story segment. It was a live camera of a storm blowing in. They had a close-up of the fairgrounds. For years we have had a fair in town, and the staple of that Fall occasion is visiting and seeing Big Tex. Big Tex is an automated, large, Paul Bunyan-sized man on the grounds. Yes, he's talked for years. He caught on fire a few years back and has had clothing makeovers thanks to the Dickies brand, which uses him to advertise their jeans.

Ok. So, my wife and I were watching the news when this very strong breeze came through the fairgrounds. The picture was black and white. The wind blew everything wild. Trees. Tents. Displays. Suddenly, I looked over and caught Big Tex struggling front and center. I laid a one-liner on my family.

"They better watch out before Big Tex loses his Dickies!"

My wife couldn't stop laughing. Hooping and hollering. She couldn't even form intelligible words for a couple of minutes.

I felt this immense satisfaction giving her reason to laugh that long and hard. Yet it felt beyond me. And today, reading a book that mentioned laughter, I stopped and replayed that memory. There was no worry then. No sorrow. No pain. It was a moment when all that was forgotten. So many miles and eons away.

All because of some Dickies.