She Makes Me Smile

Katherine makes me laugh... a lot, often. She makes me smile with her gestures, her walk, her body language, her motion. She says things that just make me laugh. Then there are the the things she does, the little personal oddities which make her a true character. She is just a fun person.

This morning was a great example. I was taking it easy, laying in bed, getting some extra rest when she walked through the door. For starters, she had walked the four blocks in -10 C temperatures rather than wait or ask for me to pick her up. She comes in the door, sees that I am still in bed, and says "Get up." It's an order, but not really. It's not even a demand. It's more of a strong suggestion. I said I was loving my extra rest to which she replied "It's time to get up."

She walked into the bedroom, tidying up, putting things away as she went. Then she said the truly magical words. "Get up. I make you coffee. That's what you want, right?" She hit the perfect note with her tone, a plea for me to get up and a reward for action on my part. Coffee doesn't just mean coffee. It means breakfast. I said I would get up and she disappeared into the kitchen.

When I did get up, I heard her rustling about in the living room. I knew what she was doing. She was re-folding the sheets I folded last night. My folding efforts, especially with the fitted sheets, were not up to her standards. I laughed when I saw her doing this. I knew when I folded them last night that she would redo them this morning. She laughed too. We both new how silly this was. We both know how important it is to her to have them folded "right".

Then, as I was getting dressed, she got busy in the kitchen, making coffee and preparing food. I noticed from the bedroom that she was doing something with the last ounce of rum I had left in a bottle in the kitchen. She wanted to dispose of the bottle, but had to do something with that remnant first. So, rather than waste it, she poured a bit into each coffee cup, added a bit of eggnog, and that was my morning coffee. Once again, she made me laugh. It's just her. She's funny.

I need laughter in my life. There are a lot of things which are not funny at all these days. There is the whole reason my sheets needed cleaning. That's not fun, or funny. There is my fast failing ability to get into my truck, to reach into my cupboards, to hold up a heavy glass. These things are not funny.

Yet Katherine, in the midst of all these sad things, always seems to make me smile. That's what I need.