Yesterday, at physical therapy, I met Anna, a hilarious octogenarian of Greek descent. I overheard her talking to her physical therapist, a man in his late thirties, who shares Anderson Cooper’s same sweet, embarrassed, shy laugh which he was doing all morning because Anna was a hoot.
In a heavily accented voice, this was the first conversation that I heard her having with her physical therapist:
“So, I told my friend about my doctor. And she went to him. Now my friend is a very attractive 80-year-old. She’s had a few facelifts, but you know, she’s eighty. And my doctor is very good looking, but he is 51. My friend says to me, “Anna, is your doctor married?” I said, “What are you, one of those cougars? That would be like having sex with someone who could be your son. Come on now!”
She interspersed “Come on now!” a lot in her conversation. And her physical therapist did his Anderson Cooper-like nervous, yet appreciative laugh, throughout all of her exercises and her stories.
She continued, “Now when my husband turned 90, we stopped having sex. That door was shut. Come on now!”
I couldn’t help myself, I started laughing out loud and I don’t have a shy Anderson Cooper-ish quiet, embarrassed giggle. I laugh out loud and proud. So at that moment, Anna peered over at me, her eyes piercing holes through her large, artistic, black glasses, right through me and she said,
“You, my friend, are an eavesdropper!!! Come on now!” (Now, my regular readers know that I cop to being an eavesdropper all of the time on this blog, but this is the first time that I actually got called out on it, by someone whom I was eavesdropping on. Nevertheless, I got the sense that Anna sort of liked my eavesdropping. She liked an audience. She seemed kind of “show-bizzy”.)
I said, “It’s true! But I only eavesdrop on interesting people.” Her physical therapist just looked at me with wide eyes, and continued his nervous giggle.
Anna liked that answer. She continued talking to her physical therapist, maybe even slightly more loud and animated, this time about her depressed friend Linda, who always calls Anna, apparently, in order to get cheered up.
“Oh, Linda, what are ya down about now? Linda, you gotta smile. Life isn’t so bad. Come on now!”
I was disappointed when Anna’s physical therapist told her that they were moving to a different station all the way across the room. Before she headed over there, she marched over to the table, where I was lying on my stomach doing leg lifts. This is when my loud laughs perhaps turned more into a nervous giggle. Anna grasped my hands and she said, “Young lady, (I loved her for that description!), always remember, laughter is the best medicine. Keep laughing! Come on now!”
Come on now, readers! Laugh a little today. Life isn’t so bad!! A sweet and salty old bird with a feisty attitude and a zest for life reminded me that laughter is the best medicine in all of the world. And she looked (and clearly felt) terrific! Take a double dose of laughter today. You won’t regret it.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
