Calendars that list daily, weekly, and monthly holiday celebrations confirm February is the month of “Hearts”.
Along with being Valentine’s Day, February 14 is also National Have A Heart Day, National Women’s Heart Day, andWorld Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day.
The first week in February isWomen’s Heart Week, and the second week shines a spotlight on Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week and this heart-warming compassionate recognition, Have A Heart for A Chained Dog Week.
The monthly celebrations include, Worldwide Renaissance of the Heart Month, American Heart Month, National Mend A Broken Heart Month, and National Laugh-Friendly Month.
Like me, did a smile spread across you face when you read there is actually a National Laugh-Friendly Month?
Laughter was the great stabilizer in my childhood years. Raised in a home with uncles who daily mimicked the all-American comedy duo, Martin and Jerry Lewis taught me to laugh at the days to come.
Hilarity is still the hope that fills my future, and in my new book, Heaven Heals a Codependent’s Heart, I share a story of laughing with my new roommate as our house of cards threatened to collapse around us. The following is an excerpt from Day 6: A Nest Egg Full of Pennies.
Then a friend told me about Ellen, a local woman going through a divorce. Until they legally divided their property, Ellen did not want to live in the same house with her husband anymore. She needed a temporary place to stay.
The day after Christmas, Ellen moved in with me.
Every Friday after work, we had dinner together. We would joke about our culinary skills as we consumed a freezer-to-oven pizza or store-bought hoagies dripping with oil and vinegar. Between bites, we talked about our workweek, our kids, and what movie we would go see on Saturday. Our mealtime conversations always ended with two middle-aged women, exhausted but giggling about the silliest things. Laughing allowed us a release before we turned to the unsavory portion set before us. We’d discuss the status of our pending divorces and the dreaded asset distributions.
One evening Ellen confessed, “Jeff told his lawyer I took his penny jar when I moved out. He wants me to return it.”
I tried not to laugh. “Did you take the penny jar?”
“Yes, but I’m not giving it back.” She was serious.
Ellen and I were desperate as we attempted to maintain our sanity and hold onto what we believed belonged to us. For Ellen, it meant holding Jeff’s penny jar as ransom.
Heaven Heals a Codependent’s Heart is a story of Healing. Laughter was one of the sutures that hastened the healing process. Being joyful in spite of adversity is another.
God will let you laugh again; you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy (Job 8:21 MSG).
