Dramedy

I once read that we have the choice of how to tell our story.  It struck me deep then, and has stuck with me ever since.  We, the Dirks, choose to live a Dramedy.  We look for ways to laugh, to find happiness, to stop being so sad.  Laughing helps lighten our back-breaking load.  Maybe it is Caden's personality, maybe he's learned it from us, but every once in a while, our story just needs some comic relief.

Last night, when returning from our dinner-only date (Shelby did not like that Randy had barely gotten home and was leaving again, so we skipped all other activities to be home with our whole family), Caden greeted us with these beauties: "What did one snowman say to the other?"  "What's blue and smells like red paint?"  "What did the red light say to the green light?"  "Why can't President Thomas S. Monson join Habitat for Humanity?"  I really don't know how he does it, this compartmentalization of cancer and normal life, but he did not seem fake, his voice and body language did not seem forced, he really was in a light, happy, joking mood.  On the flip side, my voice was too loud, my laughter too fast, my shoulders too tight, my eyes burning with shed-before-he-got-home tears.  Oh the actress I could have been!

Caden woke this morning with thoughts of a party.  He and Randy put together a text invite, passing around ideas for the body of the text.  When it came time to add contact information, Randy suggested he think of girls to invite.  You could tell he was nervous to invite girls, but that he really wanted to.  And let me just say, his excitement was infectious.  He was truly bouncing on the balls of his feet, smiling from ear to ear, glowing.  And then it happened-- the most wonderful thing in the world:  I jokingly proclaimed, "Caden is having a party and he invited girls."  Blushing, he said, "This isn't my first party!" and pulled me into a hug.  I held him long, but not long enough.  Never long enough.  That hug felt like a gift.  My son was excited enough to spontaneously hug his mother.

I wish we had accommodations to have every single one of his friends and acquaintances come, but we only have space for 10-- and even then, they will not all be able to be in the hot tub at once.  This party is just what we ALL need.  Who could have ever imagined that the day after our horrible, confirming news that we could actually be excited?!

And for those wanting to laugh, forced or not, here are the answers to Caden's comic relief:

"What did one snowman say to the other?"  "Do you smell carrots?"
"What's blue and smells like red paint?"  "Blue Paint."
"What did the red light say to the green light?"  "Don't look, I'm changing."
"Why can't President Thomas S. Monson join Habitat for Humanity?"  "Because it is a non-"prophet" organization.