Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Slice of Life - Day 12

One of my favorite feelings in the world is laughing so hard that I cry. I love it when something that someone says or does tickles my humor in such a way that I cannot control my laughter. My eyes tear up, my stomach tightens as if I were doing crunches, and if I really get going, my nostrils even flex and pulse!  
This kind of laugh certainly doesn't occur all the time.  In my life I have only experienced it with a couple of people.  I'm happy to say that my husband is one of those people. Another one is my mother. Even before I hit adulthood, we had wonderful moments of laughter.  The following describes an incident that my mother and I experienced while shopping at a large home decoration store that is no longer in existence. This incident brought us so much amusement that we were doubled over in the aisle of the store.

As my mom and I walked around the store looking at the pillows and lamps, we talked about whether Grandma would like the shower curtain we picked out for the bathroom in our new house. It was unlikely that she would like it because it was a shower curtain, and she preferred doors.  Also, it had brown in it, and Grandma didn't care for the color brown. But it also had a variety of blues that matched the "Tiffany Blue" paint in the kitchen, and since her bathroom was off of the kitchen, it would nicely complement the color.  
We had already gotten what we had come for -- a curved shower rod, a decorative shower curtain, a mildew-resistant shower curtain, some throw pillows for the couch, and handles for the kitchen cabinets.  I didn't need lamps, but the store had such a selection that we were perusing the aisles before we headed to the register.
As I looked up to see the overhead lighting options, I left the cart and gazed around.  Mother also walked briefly about to see the current trends. There were so many options! Fancy chandeliers, enormous silver monstrosities, lights with ceiling fans, floor lamps, desk lamps. It was really quite impressive.
Ending our star-gazing, we decided to head to the register.  The store was the size of a department store, and we were in the center of it.  At first, we were a bit turned around as to where the registrrs were, but I had been there previously, so I soon realized what direction we should go.  Mother protested a bit, thinking that we needed to go a different direction, but I was certain, so I grabbed the cart and headed the correct way.
We got to the register and were next in line when we looked down at our purchases and noticed that instead of shower curtains and pillows, the cart was full of lightbulbs and empty boxes. In my haste to prove how right I was, I had grabbed a cart that a store clerk was using to replace bulbs and had left our cart somewhere in the middle of the store!
The entire walk back to our cart was full of silent, tear-enducing laughter. My mom kept mimicking me  -- my eyes narrowed, my nose in the air as I proudly marched with the cart up to the register. 
We laughed through the purchase of our items and even in our car as we got on the highway. It was a wonderful laugh that we will certainly never forget, and I can only hope to have many more of the same.

3 comments:

  1. Love this story. The vivid description is balanced well with the narrative. There's only one problem with laughing that hard :).
    You and your mother seem close. I think we have to feel safe to be able to let go an laugh with people.

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  2. Oh, no! Wrong cart! :) I'm sure you will continue to laugh about this for years to come.

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  3. I'm laughing while typing this post........

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