You know you've wondered once or twice..."What happened to Janetta to make her the way she is today?"

Well that answer comes from, surprise surprise, my childhood. Two in particular instances that I think may have had an effect on me. Let's see what you think...

The first occurrence happened around the age of three. I don't remember it, but it has been told to me a number of times. Apparently I had somehow confiscated my mother's keys and had secreted them away in my bedroom where I was playing with them. For some unknown reason I decided that it would be fun to stick said keys in the outlet on the wall. Yeah, I stuck a set of metal keys into an electrical outlet. Smart, I know. I was shocked (obviously) and shot across the room like a slingshot. My hand was black as were the keys and my mom's plastic Tupperware key chain was no longer a tiny yellow colander but a melted blob. There was black on the wall around the socket and I think I screamed or something, causing my parents to rush in. Or it could have been the popping of the electrocution or the flickering lights, but whatever the case, they came running. They found me across the room sitting on the floor. Although my parents never included this description, I imagine my self with frizzed out hair and wide open eyes with a confused look on my face, mumbling gibberish. That's just the picture I get in my head.

Of course, I was fine. No serious bodily injuries. No brain injuries, that I know of. I am sure my parents flipped when it happened, scared and worried. However, it didn't seem to take them long to find the humor in it and to tell me the story of it at least twice a year.

Apparently this was before the little plastic outlet covers had been invented.

This incident occurred around the same time as 'The Shock'. Three to four years old. My dad and I used to play a game where I would run through the house and he would chase me. When he caught me, he would stand at my bedroom door and toss me on to the bed. I would bounce and laugh, and it would start all over again. One day, dad and I are playing our favorite game and he grabs me up to throw me on the bed only to find that my mom had just rearranged the furniture without his knowledge.

Yeah, you guessed it. I hit the corner of the bed that was now in the middle of the room, bounced off, hit the wall and slid down to the floor. Dad miscalculated his trajectory. Picture me flying through the air, arms and legs flailing while dad stands at the door imagining the crap he'll be in if mom finds out what happened. I'm sure he probably coached me later to say my goose egg on the noggin was from running into a door or something. Heaven forbid he admit to mom that he basically threw his child into the wall while she was gone. I'm also pretty sure he laughed about the whole thing even as he checked me for broken bones. These days, no one can even mention the incident without my dad bursting into spontaneous laughter.

Of course, this is my dad's favorite story. He has told everyone he knows this story. Everyone. I am not exaggerating. People I do not even know, know this story. People bring up this story upon meeting me for the first time. Twenty-five years later, it's still a big hit.

I never understood why this story was even remotely funny until I had my own children. I get it now.

These are the reasons I am who I am. Among other things, they shaped my life. Not the actual instances, but the effects rather. The jokes and the giggles, the laughter and the smiles. The way we all still crack up with laughter at the stories our family tells over and over, the way we always get tickled at someone or something every time we get together. These are the reasons I am who I am. I adore laughter. Without laughter, the world would be a very plain and boring place.

Laughter is the predominant sound in my household, as was in the home I grew up in. My kids know fun and laughter and happiness and I hope you all do as well. Laughter truly is the best medicine and is a huge part of my life. I laugh all the time and am always trying to get a laugh out of others. Even if it is at my own expense :D