Yesterday I was thinking…
Not that I do not think every day, well, most days, but some days more than others.
Yesterday I was reading someone’s blog, can’t remember who, and they gave a funny story from the past. For some reason I began to think of humor and my past. We all have funny family stories, some not so funny at the time and others were laughable the moment they happened.
One happening after another came running through my mind. Like the time when I was in my teens. UGH teen age years are bad enough, but I am the oldest of 8 with the youngest being 17 years behind me. So, this story happened when the youngest was not quite born yet.
We were a poor family (not much has changed to this day there!) but sometimes transportation was a problem. 7, almost 8 kids need room in a car and while most cars were large back then, at this point our large car gave up and all we had was a small car. A car most have never heard of. It was a DKW wagon. What does DKW stand for? Das Kleine Wunder. Now, that should tell you something, but in case you are not up on your German, it means The small wonder. Yes, it was small. I think it was meant to hold 4, maybe, but this was a wagon, so had a back space. Small back space. Now, I have a picture, however, ours was drab gray and maybe not this model but you can get the idea. Think small (remember Kleine) like VW from the 60′s.
This little car was so good in the snow. Dad would drive it for my brother to deliver the newspapers and over banks of snow, on ice, it was a breeze, never leaving us stranded.
We went to church about 20 miles from home and this meant quite a trip in this little thing. YUP, we all squished in and rode to church in our Sunday best. This alone was a picture going down the road, but the funny part was when dad pulled up in front of church and let us all out. We began piling out of the door, then the ones shoved in the back piled out and in we went. One of the deacons, meeting us at the door, said we looked like those clown acts. He was so sure some were running around the back and getting back in the car and coming out the door again as there was no way 9 people could fit in that little thing! Tell me about it!!!
Another happening that came to mind was when my late husband was in Seminary. My sisters and brothers were older than and by brother decided to drive out to IN from NJ to see us. He was a teen and brought my sister along as well for company. We lived in a mobile home park and our neighbor on the one side was Rick Ribble. Cheryl was sitting there and looked outside and saw R Ribble on the sign in front of the mobile home. She remarked “Good thing his name did not start with a “D”. My answer? D Ribble is across the road from us! Yup. Dave Ribble. It was pretty funny at the time!
Once again another happening that popped into my head was when we lived in PA and it was Halloween. Now we did not go along with halloween much, but our one daughter was a teen and wanted to have some fun with her friends. She got all dressed up in her costume (a stripped jail bird, complete with cap) and her and some friends set out to enjoy the neighborhood.
I was out on the porch when a police car drove by. With a jailbird in the back!! YES, my daughter. Now, this daughter was not the most obedient girl and sometimes could be a handful at home, however, I did not think there would be a problem in our small village.
Soon the police car pulled up in front of our home, after going to the neighbors home. My thoughts were “what did she do as a trick”. I soon found out that my jailbird actually was assulted by the neighbor lady when her and her friend went there. I will never forget seeing her, jailbird costume and all, in the back of that police car.
Then there was the time my dear first granddaughter, my late husband and I went to the ocean in April or May. Ivy was just learning to go potty and we were trying to stay on top of it. May in Maine is still cold and it was a bit of a chilly day so I was going to make sure we got her to the potty in time and often.I got Ivy into the stall and she screamed, you see Popham beach has pit toilets. Ivy was afraid that something would happen to her so, being the grammie I was going to show her nothing happens when you sit on these toilets. I pull down pants, get into position and begin to go. Ivy screams. Opens the stall door wide (mind you these open to the out doors as they are just individual stalls in a row) and runs out with me in mid stream. She is screaming at the top of her lungs (nothing like attracting attention!) and yelling “I am not going on that potty, I will just pee in my pants”. And she did!
We took home a naked girl for the hr and fifteen minute ride. She fell asleep and pulling in the drive her mom comes out, (Mind you mom runs a dog boarding and grooming place on a very busy highway) opens the door and has to carry in nakedness!
Poor Ivy is now a teen and do not think she will ever live this down.
Why am I telling you all this? Sometimes we just need to laugh and there is nothing in the email, nothing in the mail or TV and yet you need the laugh. God has made sure that we have things to look back on and laugh. We only need to dig into our minds and a pick me up is there for the waiting. Some “horrible” things are there for the thinking.
When my first husband died it tore me apart, yet there are things that happened that bring so much humor. (Poor Ivy, some of it is things she said at the funeral home and she likes hearing the stories and laugh with us even now). Even in the worst of times, God has things if we look.
So, when you feel down and need a laugh, think. Go back, pull from where your mind brings you. I needed it yesterday and so glad that it was there for the taking.
So many things we can look back on now and they are funny.
