24 May, 2008

A Child's Laughter

The little girl and her momma were just close enough that I could hear her laughing as she ran ahead. From across the pond, I could hear her constant stream of giggles, brightening my day as the two of them rushed back to where daddy was fishing and waiting for breakfast at the park.

I was lost in thought, studiously not thinking about the tennis match for which I waited, when the giggling stopped. Almost without looking up, I knew to expect the crying to start. Sure enough, she was tummy-down on the road, lifting up and looking back at her mommy, winding up for a good one.

It's inevitable, isn't it? Giggling and excitement and risk are followed by tears. But it's inevitable in a good way. No amount of money or peace could make me wish that little girl hadn't giggled her way ahead of her mommy and toward her daddy, even if it meant she had to cry, too.

It's called living, and I'm for it.

6 comments:

Missy said...

Me, too!

Milly said...

you know I am ;-}

kc bob said...

Me too!

Anonymous said...

Once again I bring the opposite opinion. I don't downplay the laughter of a child. However, from the viewpoint of a damaged one, I would rather miss out on some of the highs in order to miss some of the lows. Some will say that I miss out on life that way, but so be it.

lowcrawl

tye-dye trinity said...

Me too. I agree with lowcrawl. I would rather miss out on some of the highs so as to miss some of the lows. The hurt is just too much sometimes during the lows to bear.

Kevin Knox said...

Good points, tye and low. :-)

In my life I've proven that I can lower my "highs" if I try hard enough, but I've not proven that it really helps raise the lows to do so. When I went through a phase of not letting myself be happy, I still got every bit as depressed.

I have also proven, though, that if I try to stay unnaturally happy, I really, really pay the price. If I try to extend the high past the point when it's done it's bit, the rebound will just wipe me out. Sometimes, I just need to say, "Hey. I'm down and I need to quit fighting it." If I keep up that balance, things seem to go alright.

Thanks for your excellent observation.

(HA! My word verification is "takbax", and I'm sitting here writing a takeback! How funny is that. :-D)