“It’s okay, I’m just bubbling over… My Gramma does it all the time.”

We’d been having a conversation about playtime behavior at the park and Elizabeth took a time out, beside me. She hadn’t misbehaved, but the little boy playing with her had pushed her down the slide in fun, and she got angry. Talking through anger has always been my favorite way to settle the battles of life. So, we talked.

Within a few minutes, the little boy came over and asked if she was okay. She rubbed the tears from her eyes and said, “It’s okay, I’m just bubbling over… My Gramma does it all the time.”

Happy again, I watched her run off to play.

I watched her play, up the ladder, down the slide, across the bridge, they laughed. They chased. They stopped now and then to help Colm (Elizabeth’s two year old brother) wiggle his way across the platform to the slide and off they’d run. Laughter chased the tears away.

I’d noticed the little boy’s mother sitting on the ledge, talking on her cell phone. She looked contented, watching him play. I watched my daughter, working through a problem with an associate on the phone, while her children played. She contentedly worked away the hour we spent in the sunshine, holding a conference and finishing up in time to hear children laughing on the spinning tire hanging from a lower portion of the equipment.

Laughter splashed over the playground. Two mom’s gathering equipment. Children playing. An older couple sitting on a bench not far away, holding hands. And me, walking around the circle for the fourth time, watching birds flit from tree to tree, enjoying the sunshine.

Life. Laughter spilling over. Joy unending. That’s the way life is… Joy unending. Laughter – the body release valve.