Day 37: Laughter

 She HATES medical appointments.  Often I go with her for her sake and for the sake of all the medical personnel.

Yesterday,  she went to the dentist and needed to get three teeth pulled.  

She was a little tipsy when I picked her up.  She wanted to go to Walmart and get a few hair supplies to distract her from her teeth.  I was a little nervous she was going to get into to trouble. Alcohol, pain and anxiety usually add up to a fight with someone.  

I didn't want to go to Walmart.  I was making lunch when she called and I could tell she has been drinking.  But we needed chicken feed and God was tugging on my heart.  So I grabbed the car keys and headed out. 

She is fun to be with.  She jokes about everything including herself.  Including me being annoyed with her.  It's completely honest and disarming.  She loves me well and trusts me deeply and it felt like a one on one date with one of my kids. She told me all about the procedure and how she was a big girl doing it on her own. I told her I was proud of her and then we collapsed into joking.  

I told her to behave at Walmart and not to talk to anyone if they bothered her. She threw her arm around my waist and we walked in.  An old friend of hers was just in the entrance and they shared pictures of kids and grandkids and news of old so and so from around the block.  She introduced me as her mom and I was pulled into the circle to share pictures and news. 

Finally we made our way to the hair care section and grabbed my bag of chicken feed. I recommended ice cream for her and she got some frozen treats for my boys and we headed out to the car. 

We drove around for a while.  She wanted to show me a new church.  We stopped at a grocery store for a something that Walmart didn't have.  We danced in the parking lot and I sang spirituals. 

I reminded her that alcohol isn't great medicine for wound healing as I dropped her off and asked her to send me a picture of her new hair style once she finished. 

I headed home and realized that I had been to church. Both of us were reminded of God's grace.  Both were loved and beloved. It was a liturgy of getting through a crappy day.  Finding joy and laughter to replace pain and loneliness. 

I think errands with a good friend is church in the deepest way. May we all find grace to ask friends to join us in our discomfort and distract us from our worries. May we all find grace to open our hearts to unexpected phone calls of friends or relatives seeking connection. May we all find time for a little car pool karaoke and bad puns to make our day lighter and to invite God to come along.