There is a lot of things that makes us laugh and I can name some of things that makes us laugh.
When My Dad start dancing at dinner that make me laugh and also when My Dad start singing he does have a good singing voice and wonderful singing voice and sometime it also makes me laugh when he talk about that he is a superstar. Then I ask him to Stop It Dad and he pause and look at me and that make me laugh a lot.
Leah has my favorite laughing face ever, at age 2 or at age 33.
When we do something and say something that is funny that makes me laugh. Sometimes when I do something and when I start to stop whatever I doing that when we start laughing all together and I laugh too and also My Mom and Dad start too. And Lindsay and Megan and Paul we all can’t stop to laugh together. It makes me feel happy inside in my heart.
This depicts a typical holiday with my family. Rolling on the floor kinda laughs. This one appears to be Easter. Funny Bunny.
Things have been feeling a little on the serious side as we are starting this blog and let’s be honest, life just should not be taken too seriously.
Anyone who has spent any amount of time around someone who has Down syndrome will agree that their joyful, pure spirits are absolutely contagious. They exude this indescribable aura of happiness that spreads to everyone around them. One of my favorite places to be in the world is next to Leah when she laughs.
A family that smiles together…goes the miles together?
That said, as a member of the Stodden family, I have unlimited stories of laughable moments. For now, I will share just one.
It was Thanksgiving, arguably one of the best holidays of eating and napping and football (and I can’t fail to mention my favorite… The Westminster Dog Show–which I discovered this year that people in Europe thought was hilariously unrelated to the holiday itself).
As we sat down for our feast, Leah requested to be the person who made the toast that year. How great! Of course, we replied, and looked towards her direction with our glasses raised. Leah stood up, sporting quite the serious look on her face, lifted her glass in the air, cleared her throat with determination, and boldly toasted, “To Hong Kong Forever,” and sat down.
…Silence filled the room as our confused eyes met each other, and we found ourselves, for reasons we weren’t aware, toasting each other, on Thanksgiving, in honor of our dear Hong Kong?
As with most of Leah’s “performances” she immediately asked, “so, what did you guys think of my toast?” We admitted our confusion, and Leah explained, “I got it from the movie Rush Hour with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker when they are at the dinner table.”
Ahhhhhhhhh, but of course. Laughter filled the room as Leah realized how goofy her toast was and we spent the rest of the meal laughing ourselves to tears, re-enacting the moment, along with many of the other fantastic scenes from Rush Hour.
The year was 2005, I had short hair, Leah was rocking one of her favorite concert t-shirts, and the Rush Hour toasting tradition was about to begin.
Leah continuously reminds our family to lighten up. To laugh. To embrace those moments when things make absolutely no sense, and it’s okay. It’s been over 10 years now, but if you have dinner with the Stodden’s in the future, you will still find yourself raising your glass and toasting, “To Hong Kong Forever.”
Here’s to turning our minds Upside Down.
We love this “blog”. In our era (my sister Susie & me, Debbie) there was no blog but diaries to jot life’s moments and the camera to capture as much as we could afford film. Susie is 62 now and resides in a “memory center”. She has Alzheimers but that hasn’t robbed her of her beautiful smile or her laughter. I read the blog to her, show her pictures of your family and then pull out the old scrapbooks and review those precious “captured moments” that we share. Keep posting, keep loving and know that Susie and Debbie feel like we know you and love you already.