On an outing for my mother-in-law’s 80^th birthday, we were laughing over some silly thing. My mother-in-law said, “I like to be around people who laugh. If you can’t laugh, you might as well be dead.”

We later cared for her in our home from the time she was 96 until she passed away at 100. We shared many heartaches during those four years but also many laughs, and nothing relieves stress like laughter. I started writing down some of the funny and clever things she said. During bad days, I would read over them and have a good laugh.

Here are a few:

We asked if she would like to sit on the back patio with us. “No thanks. I haven’t seen the news all day, and I feel kind of ignorant.”

Her place at the dining table faced the bay window, giving her a front-row seat on our neighborhood. “It’s almost like watching a soap opera!”

She was watching a western on TV when we told her we were going for a walk. “Ok, have fun. I’ll stay here with the cavalry.”

What about you? Can you think of funny moments that helped you through the day? Try keeping a journal of the humorous things your loved one says or does. Remembering those amusing moments might just lift your spirits and change your outlook.

Have a good laugh—hey, it’s better than crying!

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22 KJV

Tracy Crump dispenses hope in the award-winning Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness (CrossLink Publishing, 2021). A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 22 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, freelance edits, and proofreads for Farmers’ Almanac. But her most important job is Grandma to five completely unspoiled grandchildren.