Laughed So Hard I Cried!

I had the opportunity to telephone my mother yesterday afternoon. We talked for 30 minutes, and she told me a story that exemplifies how small a world we do live in. I won’t go into the story, but I will say there was a movie (it might have been a book first?) a few years ago called “Six Degrees of Separation,” and the theme of the movie is we are only separated by six degrees. I would move this down a few notches because in my mother’s story I was only separated by one degree. The story was fascinating and so was our entire discussion. My mother did not know anything about why the GA meeting/visit was cancelled, and I am hoping to receive some sort of correspondence later on today. Anyhow, the telephone call to my mother was wonderful.

As was the case the day before, I received a special sauce made by roommate over my noodles instead of the sausage everyone else received. I would say beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I ordered the food here, and it was food I could eat, there would be a revolt. I was very content with the meatless sauce which was very spicy – so spicy I had beads of sweat on my forehead.

Dinner was over, and I sat outside with my two friends (my roommate and the person who helps clean the bathrooms). We talked and watched the sunset. We sat outside for a few hours and then headed back to our rooms. My roommate listened to the radio broadcast of “60 Minutes.” I remember my Dad watching this religiously every Sunday night when I was growing up. Through the years, I stopped watching it for various reasons. I did enjoy listening to it last night, and this may have become our Sunday evening ritual.

The radio broadcast of “60 Minutes” was over, and I started to read “Virtue and Reality”. I made a comment as to how I really didn’t want to read the book because so many of the terms and names were almost impossible to pronounce. This set off one of those “you had to be there to appreciate” moments between my roommate and me. He made a comment, and I started laughing very hard. He continued making comments, and I laughed so hard I cried! This went on for at least 10 minutes, and at one point, I was laughing so deeply nothing came out of my mouth. I cannot possible recreate the moment because it was truly an inside joke, and no one other than the two of us, would appreciate it. I certainly appreciated the deep bellyaching laughter. This felt so good, and laughter is most certainly the best medicine. I haven’t experienced this type of laughter in a long, long time. Had I known prison was this much fun, I would have come years ago, NOT!! Nonetheless, I am making the very best of a bad situation, and if anyone would have told me 15-1/2 months ago when I was first sentenced that I would be sitting around on a Sunday evening as an inmate laughing so hard I was crying, I would have told that person they were insane. Well, it appears I am the insane one, especially considering how much I laughed. This is a good insanity as opposed to my previous insane ways. Amazingly, the situation continues to get better and better with each passing day.

The laughter subsided, and I went about reading the book. I brought up something in the book to my roommate, but I didn’t receive a response, so I looked over and he was fast asleep. He certainly does fall asleep quickly, and I kept the comment to myself. I got up at my usual time and woke up my roommate because he had to be at work earlier than usual. He was very chipper, and this had something to do with my comment to him about not being very chipper the morning before. He made it a point to display a chipper side. He did call me a “freak” because my tone always seems to be positive no matter what time of day. He could be correct because I notice that most everyone is a little groggy when they get up in the morning, and this stays with them for a while. I have initial grogginess, but it doesn’t last very long so I guess I am a freak!

While performing my normal run, I witnessed a beautiful sunrise that was even more beautiful than last week. This was a great way to start the day and the week. The rest of the day was very routine, which is a positive.