(not necessarily in that order)
Today’s photo is of Ramesha and his brother, Fulvio, whose birthday was today.
For the first time in seventeen years we’re actually in Switzerland and able to celebrate Fulvio’s birthday in person. We all went out to dinner as a family, eating great food and having a whole lot of fun.
In fact, I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.
These dear friends are to “blame” for tonight’s abbreviated blog post.
We spent the evening eating and sharing and laughing, which meant that Ramesha and I got home rather late.
Of course, it was great fun and well worth it.
I feel this is the perfect way to end my rather up and down week. After all, laughter is good for both body and soul.
Hope everyone reading this has a lovely weekend.
I was vaguely aware of Betty White, but mostly from back in the days when I watched network television — namely Mary Tyler Moore and then The Golden Girls.
But with her passing I started to tune-in to what an amazing person she was, and tonight we watched the delightful documentary, “Betty White: First Lady of Television.”
I believe she was truly a great soul who brought a lot of light into this world (not to mention laughter!).
It’s on Netflix but only until January 11. Go watch it, quick!
This was one of those Sundays…
Up early for rehearsal before Sunday service.
More apartment clearing in the afternoon.
Then off to the office to work for a while.
Now it’s 8:00pm and I’m done. 😂
One of the things I loved most about Swami Kriyananda was his laugh. It was so warm and infectious, with so much joy flowing through it.
I also loved how much he loved to laugh!
When I was living in Assisi and becoming better friends with Ramesha (he was still Fabio then, of course), I realized that one of the things I was coming to love about him was his laugh.
In fact, the first gift I gave Ramesha was a photo of Swamiji in Palo Alto — laughing!
We met through our spiritual community, so a love for God was what we shared before we even became acquainted.
We laughed a lot as our friendship grew. In fact, the first gift I ever gave him was a favorite photo of Swami Kriyananda laughing uproariously.
But I’m pretty sure love started to grow the first time we rehearsed together for a concert. It was like recognizing a kindred spirit (and, yes, we recently finished watching Anne of Green Gables!). 😄
The pictures above are from the weekend of our wedding at Ananda Assisi (we had two ceremonies, in order to accommodate family on both continents).
Wait for it… wait for it….
BAM!
Oh my goodness, I love everything about this so much. 😂
The good: this morning’s workday was wonderful! The best part was spending time with dear friends (outdoors and safely masked, of course), sharing laughter and stories. But it was also great fun being in the fresh air, doing something that’s outside our regular flow, and helping to beautify the Expanding Light grounds.
The bad: my hands, especially the left, are really sore from pulling weeds all morning! So this is enough typing for tonight. 🖐😂
If you enjoy reading PG Wodehouse (as I know many of my friends do), I suggest you also give English humorist, Jerome K Jerome, a try.
I read his Three Men in a Boat for the first time when I was nineteen years old. I had borrowed it from my father, who didn’t get his copy back for…oh, about twenty years or so. Having that book had become essential to my well-being because I could pick it up at any time and be assured of reading something that would make me burst out laughing.
In fact, I realize that I should have gotten it out last night when I was feeling so glum (yes, I eventually purchased my own copy so that I could return my dad’s).
Before writing this blog post, I google Jerome K Jerome and started reading quotes from the book. Sure enough, I was soon laughing out loud. Here are just a few. If you like them, you’ll know what to do…! 😂
“With me, it was my liver that was out of order. […] I had the symptoms, beyond all mistake, the chief among them being “a general disinclination to work of any kind.”
What I suffer in that way no tongue can tell. From my earliest infancy I have been a martyr to it. As a boy, the disease hardly ever left me for a day. They did not know, then, that it was my liver. Medical science was in a far less advanced state than now, and they used to put it down to laziness.”
― Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat
“It always does seem to me that I am doing more work than I should do. It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart.”
― Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat
“George got out his banjo after supper, and wanted to play it, but Harris objected: he said he had got a headache, and did not feel strong enough to stand it. George thought the music might do him good—said music often soothed the nerves and took away a headache; and he twanged two or three notes, just to show Harris what it was like. Harris said he would rather have the headache.”
― Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat