{"id":292,"date":"2012-08-22T22:42:01","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T19:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/?p=292"},"modified":"2012-09-24T19:59:38","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T16:59:38","slug":"you-make-me-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/?p=292","title":{"rendered":"You Make Me Laugh"},"content":{"rendered":"

S<\/strong>everal years ago, when we were employed at the American Embassy in Moscow, Russia, my wife worked in the Consular section with several local Russians.\u00a0 During a casual conversation, one of the women she worked with said something humorous and Terese laughingly replied, \u201cYou\u2019re crazy!\u201d\u00a0 The woman suddenly became defensive and was most upset, because she understood the term \u201ccrazy\u201d as what she read in the dictionary.\u00a0 I believe it took some time for her to understand, we Americans don\u2019t use the dictionary for our speech.<\/p>\n

Back a few years further, when I worked in the airbase at Kandahar, Afghanistan, the base was essentially a small city with about 4000-5000 people.\u00a0\u00a0 The base employed people from the Slavic countries to work in the shops, including the barber shops.\u00a0 The shop I went to, being closest to my tent had a Russian woman who did a good job on my noggin.\u00a0 One evening while she was trimming my beard, I asked her the Russian word for beard.\u00a0 What she told me was some long word that I would in no way remember.\u00a0 I don\u2019t recall the full conversation we had, but I made the comment that she was silly.\u00a0 She became very defensive and stated, she was not a clown!\u00a0 There were several other attempts at words that she also found offensive, until I simply stated, \u201cYou make me laugh.\u201d\u00a0 It was at this point, as she stood with a pair of scissor not far from my soft neck, that she was not only satisfied with that statement, but I sensed it made her happy, because \u201cshe made me laugh\u201d.<\/p>\n

That is one of those unusual times in life you do not forget.<\/p>\n

We have a very dear friend we love who has a special laugh that is distinctively hers.\u00a0 If she is in a crowded room, you will know it.\u00a0 She is a California blonde we met while working in Moscow, and it\u2019s enjoyable to be around her because her laughter is contagious.\u00a0 No way can you talk to her without you, yourself laughing.\u00a0 I can say something off the wall and she will burst out in her song of joy.\u00a0 When that happens, it makes us laugh.<\/p>\n

Near our house, there is a small restaurant on the hill that is supposed to be Italian.\u00a0 Suffice to say, they do sell pizzas and pasta, but Italian?\u00a0 I\u2019m not so sure.\u00a0 Sometimes, I will go there and order a few pizzas to go, and wait at the bar with a beer.\u00a0 There is a little girl who usually waits on us, that I believe is so thin, if you made her stand in the flat open fields of the Texas Panhandle, the wind would make her vibrate.\u00a0 I enjoy talking to her, because her laughter is embedded in her words.\u00a0 Mostly, it\u2019s an ironic laugh, like she sees the humor in everything she says.\u00a0 And her laughter makes me laugh.<\/p>\n

She has told me her name numerous times, probably thinking I\u2019m senile for asking repeatedly, but the truth is, unless I see it in writing I will not remember it.\u00a0 I do know her mother gave her the name which means \u201cLife\u201d in Amharic, the Ethiopian language.\u00a0 So, excuse me a moment while I jump on the Internet and find the Amharic word for \u201cLife\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2026 okay.\u00a0 Her name is \u201cHyw\u00e4t\u201d.\u00a0 I think.\u00a0 I found several words and this sounds familiar.<\/p>\n

Hyw\u00e4t is going to University to study nursing and currently works part time in the emergency room at one of the hospitals in Addis.\u00a0 So while waiting for my take home pizzas, I like to start talking to her about her schooling and her job.\u00a0 I find it enjoyable to speak to the young people, especially quizzing them on subjects they like.\u00a0 My favorite is asking them the speed of light.<\/p>\n

Now, understand, there is a language barrier between the two of us, but she does speak English, perhaps better than me.\u00a0 Trouble is her heavy Ethiopian accent.\u00a0 Without my wife with me, I have trouble even understanding the British, Australians and Canadians; so when talking to Hyw\u00e4t, I catch only every few words, but it\u2019s enough to get the gist of what she says.<\/p>\n

I usually ask her about the people she treats in the Emergency ward, and I will do my best to remember what she has told me in the past.<\/p>\n

I asked her if she gets woozy with the sight of blood.\u00a0 With her usual chuckle, she told me the first time she assisted in an operation, she started to pass out, but the doctor told her, \u201cNo!\u00a0 Get back to work!\u201d\u00a0 She said that cured her.\u00a0 \u201cIs no problem now.\u201d<\/p>\n

I once asked her if she ever delivered a baby.\u00a0 She replied back incredulously, that she\u2019s never had a baby, and not even married.\u00a0 I said, \u201cNo, have you delivered<\/em> a baby?\u201d and I even used my hands to imitate delivering a baby, which I don\u2019t even remember how I did it.\u00a0 She replied with another laugh, NO, NO!!<\/p>\n

She told me how she helped a woman who was about to give birth, and she felt so sorry for her that she herself began to cry, and laughingly added, it made the patient start crying also.<\/p>\n

I asked her if she has to sew people up, again using my hand gestures to indicate sewing.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I suture people.\u00a0 A man came in and I suture his head.\u201d\u00a0 Then she added, \u201cNot brain, just head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whew!\u00a0 That\u2019s good!<\/p>\n

But what I am getting to is something she told me and Terese the other night.\u00a0 Terese has been gone so long, that Hyw\u00e4t misses her.\u00a0 She told me, \u201cYour wife is good. She has respect for all people.\u201d\u00a0 I replied, yes she does.\u00a0 I was surprised that she noticed that in the short times we visited with her.\u00a0 So, I promised her that Terese will be with me the next time I come.<\/p>\n

So Terese joined me the other night, and while we talked to her about her school and medical work, she mentioned that her mother, who has Diabetes, has to have regular injections.\u00a0 But now Hyw\u00e4t gives her the injections.\u00a0 Then she stated, \u201cMy mother tells her friends, `I don\u2019t need hospital now, because my daughter is nurse and gives me injections.\u2019\u00a0 Then Hyw\u00e4t smiled and said, \u201cWhen my mother says that, I am very happy!\u201d<\/p>\n

I like that.\u00a0 Again, one of those things that stays with you.\u00a0 Now, let\u2019s go the same direction but different path.<\/p>\n

Throughout the past 10, 15 or 20 years, however long the Internet has been public, I have received many of these silly questionnaires that you are suppose to fill out and send to 10 other people or your pants will burst into flames.\u00a0 You\u2019ve seen them.\u00a0 What is your favorite color, song, movies, movie star, ice cream flavor, blah, blah, etc., \u2026 ad nauseam \u2026<\/p>\n

Well, once I had one of those sent to me that actually had a good question.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is your favorite sound?\u201d\u00a0 I have two.\u00a0 One is the sound a baby makes when the little one is cooing.\u00a0 The other is my mother\u2019s laughter.\u00a0 Whenever I visit with my mother, either in person or the phone, I often find myself trying to think of something to make her laugh.\u00a0 I also notice that trait in several of my siblings.\u00a0 We all do our best to make Mom laugh.<\/p>\n

The Dear Lady has given birth to nine of us and yet she\u2019s still living a long life.\u00a0 I am convinced, her living past her 93rd<\/sup> birthday might have something to do with her love for life and all its humor.\u00a0 I sincerely hope I am as fortunate as I get older.\u00a0 In a few years, (for safety sake, I\u2019ll say 15\/20 years) when she is called Home to enjoy her much deserve Eternal Reward, we will no longer have her laughter to listen for, but can be consoled in knowing the occupants of Heaven will enjoy her laughter first hand. \u00a0For when she is laughing, she makes everyone else happy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, when we were employed at the American Embassy in Moscow, Russia, my wife worked in the Consular …<\/p>\n

Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hywat"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2tztR-4I","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}