My Daddy Tribute: L is for Laughing

My father loved to laugh. Even when times were rough, he would find a way to laugh. It's the only way to get through some of those horrible situations, such as dealing with my mother's Alzheimer's. The joking was more of a defense mechanism and not intended to be cruel or demeaning. It's something I have inherited.

Dad's sense of humor was legendary. My friends on Facebook always loved reading his quips on my photos and posts. Everyone who met him would always comment on how funny he was. People would remember his jokes for a really long time. I had one coworker who seemed to be the only other person in the world who knew John Pinette's famous comedic bit about being the fat man eating at the Chinese buffet. "You been here four hour, you go now!" For years after she met my parents, she would send me messages when I was with my father, using that particular quote. In fact, my father could never eat in a Chinese restaurant without launching into the bit, himself.



He loved to watch funny movies and TV shows. His favorite show was The Golden Girls. He knew every line of every episode and always laughed as if it was the first time he had heard it. His head would throw back and he would just let out the biggest guffaw. Sometimes my mom would come running, thinking he had hurt himself or was sick. It would always be just that he was laughing so hard at something. One of our good family friends could always judge how funny something was by whether or not he could see the roof of Dad's mouth while he was laughing. It amplified the contagious nature of his laughter. Even if you were mad at him, you almost couldn't help yourself but to laugh when he did.

I miss that laugh, but can still hear it.