I once heard that when deciding if a man is the right man to marry, ask yourself two questions: 1. Is he kind? and 2. Do I love him?
While I think those are both important questions (to which the only correct answer is “yes”), I think another important question is this: Does he make me laugh? (Not: Is he funny? Funny is subjective. And what good is “funny” if it’s mean-funny or sarcastic-funny or must-be-center-of-attention funny? Those kinds of funny get old.)
Does he make you laugh?
I can answer that with a resounding “YES.”
Of course I think that Aaron is funny, and other people do too, but mostly he makes me laugh by being silly, or giggling at one of my jokes, or by laughing at me and with me. (Sometimes, I need to be laughed at. It’s true.) Last night we made ourselves laugh by talking about our dogs and how ridiculous they are. Julie is usually the brunt of the dog jokes. (She makes it so easy!)
Laughter is so important in life, but I think it’s especially important in marriage. It can lighten a mood, brighten a room, add levity to a disagreement.
So, does he make you laugh? I hope so.
It’s the other way around in my marriage. I’m the one who makes HIM laugh.
(Which in turn makes me feel good because I’ve amused him.)
Word to all of this. When I was still single, one of my friends and I loved to talk about the importance of finding one’s partner amusing and we didn’t know why more people didn’t talk about this. Jeff makes me laugh and laugh and also thinks I am hilarious. He is also about the silliest person I know. And just thinking about that makes me smile. (We too love jokes and songs about the dog.)
I will leave you with maybe my favorite quote ever, “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