Humor is Healing

June 15th, 2010 - If you can laugh at yourself, you can survive anything! We were on our way to Italy, just one day behind our schedule. Paying extra so that our seats were close together allowed us the experience of learning early that our faces would hurt from laughter and our friendships would grow closer than the seats in aisles 34 and 35.

Laughing makes some people wonder what you are up to and then they search and poke you with a big black stick.

Our fearless leader would be our designated driver when we picked up the Hertz rental car in Florence, Italy. She is currently a professor of both art and photography, and it is evident in her photographic images. No wonder she is currently Division Chair Head of Fine Arts at SCC! We were constantly  impressed with her knowledge of art history and grateful that she shared it with us.

Laughing makes some people remove their glasses to wipe away tears of joy from their checks.

These two friends would lead the group into temptations beyond one's wildest dreams! Curiosity and a sense of enthusiasm were always present. Amazing that a retired high ranking Phoenix city official and a retired pre-k teacher found so many similar interests and could get into trouble so easily.

Laughing makes some friends "go dark" before the sun sets, to avoid seeing crazy friends sitting in front of and beside them.

This retired friend was Department Chair of Communication at SCC and taught digital storytelling. She would keep the most detailed journal and pictorial documentation of our trip. She also kept the group's daily records of Euros spent; just "play money" to the rest of us. We are grateful for your diligence and for packing your French coffee press so that each morning our delicious coffee was served with a smile.

Laughing makes "curious minds" wonder if airlines now provide "pregnancy tests" with dinner trays.

This humorous friend with a PhD and still Chair of English, World Languages & Journalism Division at SCC, was the only one to bring her iPad to Italy. Of course at the time, the rest of us didn't even own iPads. Duh... An addiction to Sudoku, and other mind games, made her a mentor to the rest of us. A great influence on us because now two more have joined the iPad group and others will follow when they pay off their current credit cards!

Keeping a quiet, somber demeanor through customs in London, the "Funsome Fivesome" were able to board our flight to Rome without a problem. Smiles returned as we met our Rome chauffeur and headed for the Condotti Suite in downtown Rome. Upon arrival at the Condotti Suite we were met by Patrizia who provide us with the keys to our apartment and explained where everything was and how it worked.

Home in Rome, but how do we get into the apartment?