When laughter ends (momentarily)

I'm a huge sit-com fan, and my favorites are Friends, Will and Grace, and those I grew up with in the 80's, the Golden Girls and Perfect Strangers. The latter two were aired here in the Philippines in the decade I was born in, the Golden Girls over GMA, and Perfect Strangers on ABS-CBN. I was very young, but I guess TV sit-coms really had a profound influence on me and my personality.

People who don't know me well enough think I'm just the ultra stern, dogooder type- a "policy junkie" - but in reality, I can be a bully, a tease, and someone who laughs at his mistakes as much as he laughs at everybody else's. The downside to this is people could take your humor the wrong way and see it as an insult. But there are surely a lot of advantages to being happy and "living a sit-com life" like mine: you stay and look young, you're ever optimistic and hopeful, and more importantly, you have a blast every time!

In sit-coms, you see the main characters go through the same amount of trouble and challenges (stinking bosses, girl/boy trouble, frenemies, et. al.) we all do in real life, but they're always sure to look at the bright side, or even before they start doing so, they give us couch potatoes a good laugh. Laughter accompanies each adventure and misadventure.

At the risk of being accused as an escapist, I must admit that laughter has become my opium, especially at times when frustration and disappointment pervade in many areas of my life. But this doesn't suggest that I don't confront my issues head on, it simply means that when I do, I wear a big smile doing so. (Laughter, after all, has been credited as the best medicine)

At times when I'm down and tired, I just pop in a DVD of my favorite comedies and I'm back in the game. It's the way I recharge, and I'm reminded that, when push comes to shove, however horrible the situation may be, everything shall come to pass, and when I start looking back, I'll be looking back laughing at how stupid my remark, how ugly my hair, or how funny the entire situation was. I've gone through a lot of difficult moments in my life because of faith (in the Almighty) and comedy.

My favorite characters- Chandler Bing, Monica Gellar, Rachel Green, Ross Gellar, Joey Tribbiani, and Phoebe Buffay, Will Truman, Grace Adler, Jack McFarland and, Karen Walker, Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous, Blanche Deveraux, Roe Nylund, Dorothy Zbornack, and Sophie Perillo- however fictional, have left an indelible mark in my consciousness, and filled my life with much laughter.

But last July 22, news came out that Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who played feisty octogenarian Sophia Petrillo in Golden Girls, passed on.

My world stopped, and so did the laughter, for a moment, to honor the passing of one of the most beloved comedy actresses of our time. She is loved by millions of people in six continents for the joy that she brought as Italian immigrant, Sophia.

Her wisecracks would make me laugh till I cry and her sarcasm is genuine genius! In real life, she "pictured a world filled with love and laughter". "She made the bad jokes good, the good jokes great, and the great ones out of this world!" I will always cherish the laughter she brought into my life, and I feel heartbroken that we've lost a great talent, a good person, and a source of sheer, unadulterated comedic genius!

But the laughter will come back, as Sophia I'm sure would have wanted.

At least, she isn't going back to the Shady Pines Retirement home, but to a much better place, "Picture this," in the bosom of He who created all joy, laughter, and happiness, where she will be rewarded for bringing joy to the lives of others.

Good bye, Sophia, you will be sorely missed, and thank you for the laughter!