A Smile to My Face

Q: "What makes life worth it?" A:"Anything that brings a smile to my face!"

If I ever make it to old age, it will be because of the smiles. Sure, there's motherhood and apple pie, family and friends, truly nice/beautiful people, the splendor of nature, the physics of detail, and so on. All of that matters... but number one is just good laughing-out-loud kind of fun smiles. My favorites are (1) Slapstick, as in the Pink Panther and Home Alone movie series, and (2) Silliness, like in absurdity... which is everywhere. I've got to laugh at political theater, among others (What? Do politicians really think we buy their drama?). Given a choice on what to watch on TV, I choose comedy... but with news a close second. The way I laugh at the news, somebody will surely take me away sometime. News has the silliest content ever. I choose to laugh until my belly hurts.

One item in the news today made me smile in a different way. Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, is getting absolutely swamped with mail. Floor to ceiling, semi truck loads... of handmade snowflakes, sympathy cards, favorite football cards and piggybank money. "It's awesome," said the PTA president. "From children, just like us," said a local child at the recent tragedy. "That much love multiplied this many times," said the narrator. It made me smile all over.

My new year's resolution is to smile more... every which way.

- © 2013 by Willy