There’s hardly anything that makes me laugh faster and harder than seeing a photo of people laughing out of control or to hear the sounds of laughter.
I ran across one of those photos Sunday night of three of my great-nephews, Isaac, Isaiah and Joshua. The photo is at least 10 years old or older.
Issac and Isaiah are laughing so hard you could almost hear them. Joshua has on an oversized hat on his small head and he’s nearly swallowed up.Yet he has this little grin across his face.
Today these guys have either finished or are finishing college; one is a manager at a culinary school, one is a welder and the other owns his own construction company. They have grown to be fine young people … who still enjoy laughing.
I immediately messaged that photo to their mom, who laughed again, too.
A long time ago now it seems, Mama made a picture of one of my nieces and myself sitting on a dinner table while Daddy was telling his usual crazy family stories. The tale he was sharing was absolutely hilarious and we were gut-laughing. I am not looking at the photo right now, but I am still laughing, thinking about it.
When one of my aunts joined the Crawford family through marriage, we began to recognize her immediately by her laugh. Whether we were in the same room or in another room, we knew her by the sounds of her laughter. You know what I mean?
Isn’t it true everyone of us has challenges and struggles, sometimes more than we can take.
I was feeling a little low last night when I came across the nephew photo. I am still laughing
Laughter is good medicine, says the writer of Proverbs.
Whatever makes you feel better, makes you laugh a little today, try it.
I am feeling better today just by seeing the photo of the boys.
To top it off, a friend texted me this morning that she had some blueberries for me. I started smiling big. Blueberries make me smile and even laugh.
I can’t remember the first time I fell in love with them, but I know I was an adult.
A friend’s in-laws had blueberry bushes galore in the yard and I was invited to come and pick. I did often and shared with as many people as I could.
Later another friend had a large blueberry field where she allowed friends to come and pick and keep. Her only requirement was, “pick me enough for a pie.” As a senior citizen she could no longer get to her blueberries, but she loved to share.
An aunt and I usually picked them together and always visited her afterwards with enough blueberries for one pie.
She didn’t want more. She lived alone and one pie was all she would need for a few days. She ate them often.
I will always remember Mrs. Buchanan when I have some of her blueberries.
It’s been probably 10 years now that I became acquainted with Sylvia Hatchell’s blueberry patch near Fairview.
The former women’s basketball coach at UNC planted the blueberry plants years ago as a fundraiser for the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC. Although not a patient at the center at that time, later in life she would undergo cancer treatment there, and she fully supports the center and markets the blueberry.
From the blueberries picked these days in Fairview, proceeds fund a new weight/exercise room at Lineberger for all patients and even families who might be there for a while.
On Facebook last week, Hatchell reminded her friends the blueberry bushes are full of delicious berries.
“I pick and eat blueberries to fight cancer,” she told her audience, asking others to do the same.
Once you pick all the blueberries you want from the patch at 143 Flat Creek Road in Fairview (NC) you simply send a donation to the Lineberger Cancer Center. It’s all on the honor system.
With the help of volunteers, including Rutherford County native Bill Cline, she maintains the blueberry patch as one of the best in the area.
Cline, by the way he is the blueberry expert for the state of North Carolina and his parents, Dr. V.O. and Jane Cline, still reside in Rutherfordton.’
Did you know just one cup of blueberries a day can provide loads of nutrients: 24 percent of your daily intake of vitamin C, 36 percent of vitamin K, 25 percent of manganese, which helps with blood clotting and promotes bone and muscle strength, and 14 percent of dietary fiber, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Hatchell tells her friends and pickers blueberries are among the best things a person can eat.
“These little nuggets are phenomenally full of vitamins and minerals,” says Evelina Grayver, MD, a cardiologist at North Shore University Hospital at Northwell Health in New York City. “It is very important to understand how they help manage cholesterol, potentially help manage blood sugar, how they reduce blood pressure, and how overall they decrease inflammatory response in the vessels and thus decrease the risk of heart disease.”
Want to smile today? Find a photo of laughter or make one yourself. Look at the reels of dogs and cats trying to smile on Facebook and eat blueberries. Knowing how good they are for your health, will make you smile.
Wanna have a cool mountain ride to Fairview to Hatchell’s blueberry patch, just outside of Bat Cave. It will be worth your time, or if you have a good friend who offers them to you, take that friend up on it. It will be one of the best things you’ve done today – beside looking at a photo of your family laughing.
Laugh more and eat more blueberries.
——
Jean Gordon is an award winning journalist who has reported Rutherford County news for more than 50 years.
