“What can we do?” we whispered.
“Let’s go in and distract her. Try to cheer her up.”
Sure enough, the tears were streaming down Mother’s cheeks. Upside-down on her lap was my brand new copy of Farley Mowat’s “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float”. No, she wasn’t crying. She found the story hilarious and, being a proud Newfoundlander, appreciated to the fullest Mowat’s troubles in her native island. (I had a hard time waiting until she finished so I could read my book.)
Annie herself was no slouch when it came to laughter. I have seen her utterly helpless with hilarity. In fact, sometimes those who knew her well would “bait” her with a funny story just to enjoy her mirth.
One such time occurred in a small town where we lived. Local media had been running stories of a flightless domestic duck that had been rescued from the roasting pan by a woman who loved animals. She went overboard lavishing affection on her new pet, and the newspaper and TV ate it up.
When Annie saw videos of, first, the duck dressed in doll’s clothes, then being walked on a leash like a dog, and finally being pushed around in a stroller, she thought the woman was very funny.
When she saw video of folks oohing and aahing on the street as the lady took ducky for walks, Annie couldn’t help LoL-ing.
“I want to meet that woman and tell her how funny she is,” my wife declared. Unfortunately, before that could happen, ducky passed away.
One evening some friends phoned to say the duck lady was down at the community centre and it would be a perfect time to meet her, even though the duck was deceased. So down we went and were introduced to the lady during which my wife, smiling broadly, gushed her admiration for the woman’s sense of humour and fun in treating the duck, not just as a pet, but as one of her children.
Instead of appreciative humourous gratitude, the lady looked appalled that we thought her departed duck was merely an object for ridicule and derisive laughter. It was her baby and she missed it keenly.
Our smiles faded quickly as the lady turned and marched out of the building in a huff. Was she still being funny, or had we offended her by not understanding how she truly felt about the duck?
“We must have hurt her feelings,” someone said. If so, we were deeply sorry, but then one of our group gradually smiled. Then we all did. “I hate to admit it,” he said, “but that makes it even funnier. Because the joke is on us.”
LoL !
