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“Iva Lee Jarrett”
The 4-year-old child saw her grandmother's false teeth soaking in a glass of water. She said to her mother, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"
I once was pastor of a wonderful woman named Iva Lee Jarrett. She was past 90 years old when I first met her. She was a joy to behold. She had thin, wispy white hair. She peered through very thick glasses. She had a sea to shining sea smile that must have been congenital. And she had one tooth in that wonderful mouth. The tooth fairy had paid many visits to her house. Iva Lee lived in a retirement home and was confined to a wheel chair. I saw her often in my pastoral rounds.
I often found her with a large-print, steamy, romance novel in her lap and a plastic cup of wine in her hand. I never knew until I met her that such novels were available in large-print editions. I knew that the Bible was printed that way for folk with vision problems but this was a shocking discovery for me. Iva Lee would often offer me a drink. I would say, "Oh no Dear. I would be in trouble with the bishop if he were to learn I've been over here drinking with you, a single lady." (Iva Lee had been a widow for many years.) She would smile that toothy smile and, as if to shock me, say, "I would looove to get you in trouble with the bishop."
I always looked forward to seeing her because she had a hobby that I have found somewhat common among older women. She loved to tell ever-so-slightly risque stories to her minister. A few years ago a prestigious, eastern university published research indicating that as some men grow older they experience some shrinking in a portion of their brains. The result is a loss of some of their sense of humor. I have noticed no such phenomenon among women.
On her 94th birthday I went to the party to help Iva Lee celebrate. As we sat eating cake, she turned to me and said, "I have a story for you. A young woman about my age," she said, "was driving her red convertible down the highway with the top down." (Now get the picture. Iva Lee was creating a picture of herself in this story.) And, said Iva Lee, "Suddenly a big ugly frog jumped into the car on the seat beside her. The young lady reached over and patted the frog on the head. She said, 'My what a handsome frog you are.' Suddenly the frog turned into a handsome young man...and she turned into a motel!"
If you don't think that story is funny, may the lord have mercy on your shrinking brain, heart and soul. I have decided that a sense of humor is the beginning of true wisdom. Iva Lee had all things in proper perspective. She made long life appealing despite her physical limitations as she grew older. She cheered everyone who knew her.
Soon afterward Iva Lee died. At her funeral I tried to capture the essence of her personality in her eulogy. I told the story she had given me on her 94th birthday. Her family applauded! Later they crowded around to express their pleasure at knowing that she had been close enough to her pastor to revel in such stories with him. We all left smiling and imagining that she was, at that very moment, regaling the ultimate minister of us all.
So there you have it, my latest harangue in my crusade against the heresy of humorlessness. This week take a tip from the elders like Iva Lee Jarrett. Lighten up, laugh a little and live on emotional tiptoe. Remember the message on a bumper sticker: "He who laughs last thinks slowest!" And in a similar vein: "They who don't laugh don't last!"
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