The Power of Laughter

I was in seventh grade when my grandpa died. It was the first experience I had with the death of someone close to me, and I had no idea how to react. My family cried together, completely upended by our loss, and the next day we drove to my mom’s hometown to be with my entire family.

I walked in the doors to my grandparents’ home where my aunts, uncles and cousins were gathered. I expected everyone to be crying, but it was quite the opposite. A few of my aunts and uncles were looking at pictures and laughing in one room, others were sitting around the kitchen table catching up on the small town gossip. The little kids were running around the house seemingly oblivious to the subject of our gathering.

After the funeral, my entire family gathered in my aunt and uncle’s small living room. We spent hours sitting in that room and taking turns sharing memories of my grandpa. Person by person we went around the room and everyone, my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, great aunts and cousins alike, shared their thoughts. We heard funny stories of him as a teenager, of him working on the farm and of him as a parent and grandparent. We laughed until it hurt, and as we all laughed together, the pain of the loss slowly began to ebb away.

I believe in the power of laughter.

Laughing has the power to take us from crying tears of sorrow to crying tears of joy in a matter of minutes. Have you ever noticed that after a good, long laugh you felt completely refreshed and rejuvenated? Science has proven the common saying “laughter is the best medicine.” A study by Dr. Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary psychologist at Oxford, found that laughter produces endorphins. The movement of our muscles while we laugh triggers an increased production of endorphins, the brain chemicals that have a feel-good effect on our bodies. The good feeling these endorphins give us help us feel better on a bad day.

When my grandpa died, my family and I used laughter to ease the hurt and bring us closer together. Laughter serves as the shining light of hope in a dark time; it gives us the strength we need to move forward.