...in other words

I decided to try something new here.
My blog has recently turned into a "picture blog," which I love sharing with family and friends, but I'd like to try to write more on here... you know, those random, meaningless thoughts that bounce around in my head from time to time.

So, I found this Tuesday meme called ...in other words, and I figured I'd give it a shot. Basically, every Tuesday, a new quote is posted... I'll post it here on my blog and you'll be lucky enough to find out what it inspires in me. I've always been a quote-a-holic, so this seems like it'll be right up my alley. Click on the link above and join me, if you're so inclined!

Without further ado, today's quote is:

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh. -- W. H. Auden

First of all, I found it very coincidental that my friend Maria had just posted an entry on her blog yesterday about sharing laughs with her husband. Neat, huh?

After I got over that, this quote immediately made me think of three members of my family: my mom, my grandma, and my brother. The four of us have always shared something... we refer to it as a "sense of the ridiculous."

It doesn't happen very often, but when all of us, or even two or three out of four of us, get together, you can bet that at some point we will erupt into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, over something ridiculous... and probably NOT the slightest bit funny to anyone else.

Others who have joined our family, by marriage or other association, either come to appreciate our sense of the ridiculous, or they're completely baffled by it. For example: my sister-in-law Heather has been around long enough (13 years now, I think!) that she seems to "get us" and she has no problem laughing along with us; my dear husband, who has been around for 6+ years still seems a little "lost" when he's in our company... he usually just grins and bears it; my mom's ex-husband, Brian---totally clueless... he used to tell my mom that he felt intimidated when we all got together and talked so fast and erupted into laughter over nothing in particular. Poor guy.

I could list some examples that always stand out in my memory and still cause me to laugh when I think about them today... but, chances are, you wouldn't "get it." Just in case any of my ridiculous crew are reading this, though, I'll mention a few: the Southern States incident (my all-time fave), my 4th grade band concert, and the day we went outlet shopping.

Suffice it to say that I 100% agree with this week's quote. I think that every family/group of friends/married couple, etc. has their own version of our sense of the ridiculous. When I am among Nick's family, I can tell that they, too, share their own kind of humor... I'm not sure I "get it" all of the time, but I appreciate that they do. My dad is one of the funniest people I've ever known. And when we're with his siblings, it's always a laugh-fest; one that other families probably wouldn't "get," either.

So, to all of my loved ones out there... ridiculous or not, thanks for making me laugh!