It's a Fine Line Between Hilarity and....Life.

I came across this story today on Facebook. I really enjoy the author, Nora McInerny's, outlook on life and her raw, dry recitation of the facts.

Some of the stuff she says sounds like it's written to be a joke, delivered with a healthy dose of dry humor. But it's not--it's a narrative of the way things happened, the way things were:

"Aaron seemed fine, but the doctors weren’t so convinced, and soon I was pushing him in a wheelchair down to an MRI machine, where doctors took pictures of Aaron’s brain and I took pictures of him in an MRI machine for Instagram. The results were some mediocre social media content and a giant brain tumor that needed to come out immediately. The brain tumor was stage IV cancer."

The truth is, sometimes people say what they're thinking in a way that could be misconstrued as a feeble attempt at a joke when they really just want to say it out loud...out of frustration. Because the reality of the situation is, when a human is dealing with something difficult it is normal for them to feel frustration. And sometimes just saying words that you aren't "supposed to say" because it's "not politically correct" makes you feel less frustrated.

Because you stated your feelings--the reality of your situation--and you DIDN'T sugar coat it.

When my friends talk about next year's Easter egg hunt and I reply "yeah...maybe Kennedy and I can HIDE the eggs", I'm not looking for a laugh, and I'm sure as hell not looking for sympathy. I'm communicating that we will still participate and want to be included, but that I know it may not be in the same way the other kids are. I'm not trying to make the situation uncomfortable, I'm trying to lay it out there--that I acknowledge our lives will be a little different--but that I wouldn't have it any other way, and I still want it to be as exciting and full as everyone else's. Hell, maybe even more so.

To some that may be funny. I'm used to people laughing at my life--sometimes out of incredulity, sometimes out of horror, sometimes out of humor...the fact of the matter is that it's always been a bit different. And with each day that passes I'm reassured I'll have that constant, semi-ordered chaos forever--and I would NOT have it any. other. way.