Ello

I phoned home yesterday to say “What up.” My father, the one who tried a liquid diet of chicken broth not realizing the high levels of sodium probably weren’t the best thing for his health, picked up the phone. Every time my dad answers the telephone, knowing that I am on the other end (otherwise he would just be a giant creeper), he uses what we refer to as his “Mr. Snooty” voice and actually introduces himself as “Mr. Snooty,” taking the character to a whole other level… he sure knows how to commit to a part. This time however he sounded like a cross between Mr. Snooty and Animal, the Muppet, if Animal spoke words. My dad couldn’t get three words out—the basic hello—before erupting into laughter. I may have provoked his laughter and non-coherentness by informing him that he sounded like a Muppet, but I do what I can.

I started to laugh because my dad sounded like a goof-ball chuckling into the phone. My howling made my dad start to laugh even more. For a good three minutes we were on the phone laughing, running down our family plan minutes.

Words weren’t being exchanged—something that happens when normal people have a conversation.

I had tears streaming down my face. The situation got so out of hand that my mom had to come running up from the basement because she heard the wheels of my papa’s Hoveround come to an abrupt stop after spending the previous minutes wheeling at the speed of sound through our kitchen. Funny how my mom takes the sound of laughter to mean impending doom.

You know your laughing real good when no noise is made, though your face is looking PRETTY spastic.

One of the few things my dad actually managed to say before me mother took the phone away from him because he was acting like a child was that it had been a long time since he had laughed that much. After drying the tears from my own eyes, I realized he was right. It felt very freeing to just laugh for no real reason, to share in a moment of pure joy with an individual I love dearly. It was a stress reliever. I felt whole again.

I felt at peace.