i used to make myself laugh, memoirs of an extinct childhood

We were the only girls in a family of three. Then it turned into a family of four..... five..... six..... And we were still the only girls until number 7. We were best friends. Even the cousins we hung out with were all boys. You were my best friend before I knew what a friend was!

You knew about my first boyfriend before anyone else - and you even knew about the "wished-for" boyfriends! You know things about me that I hope you will never tell. But that's what makes us sisters.

Since we were the only girls, we always shared a room. I guess at that age, you don't really need your privacy, and frankly, a best friend can be more beneficial than your independence then.

I told you almost all my secrets. There are still a couple that I hold dear. But no one else ever knew more! Ahhh, those were the days!

My fondest memory of sharing a room with my best friend, are those of making myself laugh. We made up nicknames for each other, and then we would audibly role-play these really silly scenarios for these "characters" with the nicknames. Oh, you know, like every kid does! (I miss those days of being a kid!)

Ahhh, Dan, I miss those days! Everything was sooooo simple!

And we would make ourselves laugh. It was funny of course... But you start chuckling at the funny part, and then you pretend that it is juuuuust a bit funnier than it actually is... and then pretend jjjjuuuuuusssttt a little more........

I did it tonight, actually.... It was pretty funny, what was said - or at least what I thought about what was said was funny..... But I pretended that it was juuuust a bit funnier than it really was.... and I felt it again... I laughed until I cried. I had tears running out of both eyes. Yes, it was that funny!


And I am now left reminiscing.

If my childhood, as foreign as it may now seem, held that much simple, pure enjoyment, what will the rest of my life hold, now that I have realized that life is all about stopping to smell the roses?