Fall begins with Autumn

October 4, 2009 4:07 AM
Yesterday had many of the hallmarks of what could have been a very bad day.
I discovered upon waking and heading to the gym with my brother, my car’s alternator had gone kaput--probably caused by the unnecessary removal of an A/C fixture by the former owner/mechanic--which in turn caused the serpentine belt to slide off track and burn. In sum, my car is “broken.” Curses!
I managed to keep my composure and decided philosophically, “At least the car got me here and didn’t break down in the middle of nowhere.”
I released a measure of that distress at the gym, but afterwards I was confronted by another mini-crisis--my sister, and the terrible shape she is in, which by far exceeded any of the states of breakdown I had witnessed before.
However, I remember my feelings of guilt after I had attempted suicide in 2000 and the looks of dismay and tears my friends and family displayed with which I was doubly burdened, so I chose to remain cheerful and kind and laughed with her and the kids.
The evening tugged at my efforts to keep the spirits of the family strong amidst adolescent quarreling, but I willed-to-power an engine of frivolity and took the boys to see “Zombie Land,” a kitschy cult-horror comedy, best seen in the company of rowdy friends at a cinema packed with raucous college students.
Thus bolstered, we laughed and joked all the way home, whereupon I heaped my bounty of canned spray-streamers and silly rubber wigs on the boys, who commenced to chase me and the dogs all over the yard.
So, a potentially bad day was turned into a very good day because I deemed it necessary. Go me!
Hence, October begins with Autumn, and I am very glad to be here for her.
I’m glad to be here for everyone, actually--myself included. These times of sorrow have gotten too serious, indeed, and we all need to laugh more and often.
Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.

Dan