What is it about laughter?

When Emmalyn started to laugh, it was pure joy.  Eric and I were staying in a hotel after visiting friends, and as we got her ready for bed, she started to full-out belly laugh.  I remember her laying on the bed, guffawing over and over.  She was just three months old, and we were so excited about all of the laughs to come. But the stinker that she is, we really have to work for her laughs.  She is a content little one, so we thankfully have been spared for lots of screaming outrages in the first year of her life.  Along with contendedness, I guess we lose out on extremes on the other side.  She doesn't laugh all the time, so when she does, we both savor it. If she is laughing with Eric or I, the other will almost always come running to see. Usually laughter comes when we throw her in the air or do something ridiculous.  Occasionally, we'll get laughs from tickling under her chin or poking her belly.  Each time, we soak in the joy that comes with that precious sound (maybe even more so because she holds out on us?).  One time on Facebook, I wrote that heaven surely is filled with the sounds of babies laughing.  There is something purely sweet about that sound.

This morning, I was eating my english muffin with butter and black tea (mmm, delicious - the joys of recovering from a stomach bug) at the local hotel.  I'm at Asbury for class, and obviously missing our little family.  CNN was on, and I just didn't care, so I tuned it out. Then, amid the political commericals and mud-slinging, this came on and my head snapped up:

I'll admit it.  I started to tear up immediately.  It was the most precious thing ever.  So Volkswagen, I'm not about ready to buy a car from you, but your commercial absolutely made my day (and made my miss my little laugher all the more).  Thanks for giving us Americans a break from the finger-pointing!  (Smart advertising move too - check out this post's kudos for that).  Laughter is truly great medicine.