Our life story is composed of lots of smaller stories. This is most noticeable to me when I read obituaries. Mostly they contain the facts of birth and death, of survivors and social connections, but sometimes, there are small clues about the other stories: “Allen loved to work in his garden, or Beth played her violin in church, or Susan was a fan of Wrestlemania.” These are the stories I want to hear. Meeting with grieving families, I am often delighted by the funny memories they share. It is often true that laughter and tears live right next to each other. What stories will your family and friends treasure in their memory of you? My brother and I, when talking on the telephone, make jokes to help us cope with the growing threat of his cancer. To someone outside of us these may seem a bit macabre at one point and just plain silly at another, but it helps us deal with the situation we face. The shared humor says we are in this together. We are not avoiding the painful realities but we are not bowing down before them. In a strange way this seems part of our faith. We are confident in our future with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom by his grace. The humor reminds us that while we may be struck down for a time, we are not destroyed. Our future is secure in the hands of Him who holds the future.