Chortle

By Debra S. Carlisle Smith

Chortle is a humorous gift book intended to bring caregivers a small distraction from the seriousness of their everyday lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662454295

Book preview

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Chortle

Debra S. Carlisle Smith

Copyright © 2022 Debra S. Carlisle Smith

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-5428-8 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-5429-5 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

The Humanoids

The Volleyball Fossils

Einstein's Mother

Great-Grandmother

Florida

Elvis

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep…

Not Those Jeans!

Making a Splash

Worried About Your Hair? (Suggested during Pandemics)

Pass the Jam, Please!

One Way to Keep Cool in Shipshewana

The Canines

Get Down and Stay Down!

The Red Ski Mask

Zena and the T. rex

The Forager

Medical Mania

Messing with the Staff

Messing with the Machines

Jim's Advice

Peace and Comfort

Touched to the Depth of Our Souls

Section 5

Epilogue

About the Author

To caregivers everywhere.

Acknowledgments

This book was inspired by my husband, Dixon. Dixon has fought mantle cell lymphoma for over fifteen years. His strength, courage, and extraordinary sense of humor continue to inspire me. It amazes me that even in his most fragile moments, he still shares his awesome sense of humor with everyone around him even after beating back cancer four more times.

Thank you, Dixon, the greatest storyteller I've ever met, for being my best editor and sounding board.

Thank you to sweet Cambri. She was a shining star in our world and will always be in our hearts. I would also like to thank my parents, Bernie and Suzanne Carlisle, for encouraging me and believing in me.

My mom is a breast cancer survivor. She's the most beautiful, kind, and gentle mom in the world. (By the way, she's known to open with a cackle. Add a snort, and it turns into a chortle.)

Chortle—to chuckle gleefully; a combination of chuckle and snort.

Preface

When we were in Rochester, Minnesota for Dixon's stem cell transplant, a really kind minister came to see me. She told me that I needed to remember to take good care of myself.

No, I said, it's my husband who has cancer.

Yes, she said gently, I know that.

She went on to explain to me that many caregivers ended up in hospital. Anxiety and stress take a toll on our bodies.

She said caregivers needed to take very good care of themselves. Reducing stress levels is the key. Take breaks, eat healthily, ask for help, get enough rest, meditate, seek solutions, and look for