February Series - 8 Things I Love About BJ, Blog 5: His Sense of Humor

8 Things I Love About BJ: His Sense of Humor

Today’s blog is dedicated to “Little D” on his 14^th Birthday.

It's funny (no pun intended) but when I sit here to describe BJ’s Sense of Humor I can’t even put it into words. I’ve been blessed to have three boys…all with a “sense of humor” albeit some with a side of sarcasm. It is said, “Having a sense of humor will gain you a lot of friends. A funny person is always surrounded by people!” He enjoyed doing things or saying things that would make us laugh or smile which in turn developed him with a gift of sense of humor. I think that brought him happiness; making people laugh or smile. You would always catch him cracking a joke or “teasing” someone in a fun way and even though they may have been the object of his humor, you couldn’t help but just adore him for it too. I think it meant he loved you special. ♥ Sort of like back in school when you teased someone it meant you “liked” them. ;)

Humor is an important part of life; for many it keeps them young and for others it helps them get through the rough patches. You don’t have to be funny to have a sense of humor, you just have to see the lighter side of things…Laughter is the best medicine. Even the days following his death I would find myself cracking a joke and saying, “BJ would say that.”  Dillon and I do that all the time…”you know what BJ would say” or “BJ would say”. Those are the little ways we keep him alive; I call them everyday moments. Dillon and Willy both have BJ’s sense of humor; Heaven help us! I see so much of him in both of them…mostly his humor.

Dillon turns fourteen today and he recently expressed it’s difficult for him to have a big family celebration now because “we are missing too many of our family, mom.” Bless his heart and all he has had to endure at such a young age. Loss is tough on adults but nothing in comparison to a young heart. I image if Rich (Dillon’s dad) and BJ were still here they would be quite proud of the caring, humorous, and quite often intellectual young man he is today. It makes me sad that neither of them is here to be part of our family and part of continuing to shape who this birthday boy is growing to be.

On our cross-country trip in July 2016 with BJ we discovered BJ liked to capture a picture of each “entering” state sign. He said it helped him to know that the pictures taken between each state sign were pictures of that state; now that’s a smart thing to do! My phone didn’t take the best of pictures and BJ did a majority of the driving and Dillon had the newest phone, so by the third state BJ assigned Dillon to capturing a photo of each state as we entered it. BJ could hardly stand it; he would anxiously ask, “Did you get it D, did you get it?” Dillon would say, “Yes” and he would no sooner say it and BJ would be telling him to text it to him. You might say he was a bit impatient. Regardless, he (and I) was impressed with the photos and Dillon’s skills. A few weeks after we returned home I was telling Dillon how great those pictures were that he took of the state signs and how impressed his big brother was. Well, my sweet little boy confesses that he couldn’t always capture a picture so he would get one from the internet and crop it! He would find a daytime for day driving and a nighttime for night driving. I could hardly stop laughing when he told me of his shenanigans…mostly because that is so something BJ would’ve done and Dillon pulled it on him! I was sort of sad I never had the opportunity to tell BJ of his brother’s antics because I could hear him say, “That little jerk” with one of his snickering grins! I have no doubt in many ways he would have been proud of his little brother for pulling the wool over his eyes and the quick thinking that led to his heist of cropped internet photos! Yes, I do believe his big brother would be proud of him.

BJ, thank you for the years of laughter from jokes to impromptu “Fresh Prince” dances and for never holding back your lighter side; for sharing your happy-go-lucky and “it’s all small stuff” persona. Thank you for being one of two big brothers “Little D” has had the privilege of looking up to and your influence on his sense of humor. You are missed tremendously and loved dearly. Mom ♥