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Spent last Saturday evening with my daughter and the two youngest grandchildren. We watched movies and laughed at the comedies viewed. The slapstick antics of the actors brought back memories of a gentler time of a past childhood and youth when my family would gather together around the television set. We watched movies of the three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, Bob Hope and Red Skelton too. We enjoyed the films and the actors who played out their storyline with great pranks. But of all those who clambered across the screen, what I enjoyed most on those days was hearing my Father laugh. His robust laughter could be heard above the dialogue of the characters and it seemed to travel throughout the house. His laugh seemed to take over the sounds of the room and drown out any other noises including the actors voices on the tv. This laugh of his was so contagious it would prompt all in hearing range to laugh out loud as well.

So, was the case on this night as I sat in the living room of my daughter’s home. As we watched the actors portray their roles on the big screen television, the two little ones began to mimic the characters with great enthusiasm. They pranced and danced with heightened glee and giggled at themselves as they mirrored the antics of the film stars and one another too. The cackling crescendoed to a higher and higher pitch. And soon, I heard my own voice give rise to the exuberance of the moment.

As I watched the two at play, my heart blossomed at seeing the joy on their faces and hearing the excitement of their voices. And my mind traveled back to a distant time and place when I was young. I recalled the same behaviors of my siblings and me as we watched the favorite movies with our Dad. The memory of the past now merged with the reality of the present. A trait of chuckling now passed on to the next generation. A wonderful legacy of joy abounded in the home of my past and the house of the present. In a few moments time, I was given the chance to revisit a place in time which holds so many treasured memories and pleasant thoughts. Once again in the blink of an eye, life had come full circle and the simple things in life again sustained. Such gifts…

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