HUMOR

HUMOR

Ludwig Wittgenstein, “Humor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world.”

Humor is looking for the light side of dark times, finding grace toward oneself and others in awkward moments and finding comical relief while experiencing life’s difficult situations. Humor as a lifestyle may inform the handling of critical situations as one recognizes that critical does not necessarily mean serious. I and my family have earned the appellation, humor. Humor is not a mood for us or our village, it is “a way of looking at the world.” My recognition of this can be traced to October 2023.

My husband and I began this journey in October where we intentionally looked and found light side scenic vistas in our dark times. We have experienced awkward moments filled with grace as we received and shared challenging news. Comic relief in the middle of critical circumstances has been a breath of fresh air and we understand that this time, critical is also serious. Our critical situation? My husband and playmate has prostate cancer. In a moment, our life’s trajectory took a detour of an unknown distance and time.

This detour began on a Wednesday evening at Minneapolis airport as we waited to board a flight for Fargo, North Dakota. My husband received the results of a prostate biopsy which he didn’t share until we settled into our hotel. “Gwen,” he said, “that was Dr. Hill on the phone at the airport, I have prostate cancer.” I didn’t say the “C” word that night or Thursday at all. We spoke of it as the diagnosis.

From that day, we have been serious about our commitment to rid his body of this uninvited guest but strive to meet that commitment with a lighthearted attitude. How? By being as open and transparent with each other and others as possible, we have created space for loving support. We choose laughter over crying when possible and sometimes simultaneously. We eat this elephant one bite at a time.

We have faced multiple critical but not serious events under the critical and serious umbrella of prostate cancer. It is a steep learning curve to know the difference. Laughter/humor about us and from us or from others has been life giving. We walked awkwardly through that first Thursday of knowing the diagnosis. Grace was extended by both as we sought to find our footing and that helped us to accept the awkward receipt of the news by others and to extend grace to them.

I have had to extend my grace to myself. It has taken four months for me to write this blog. By the time you read this, my husband will have completed his final pretreatment procedure before starting proton radiation therapy. We fully expect humor to be one of our coping mechanisms. It has served us well thus far.

Psalm 118:24

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Humor and grace bless the world.