August 20, 2021 — We’ve always loved this card and the wisdom in its message. Can’t you just see and hear and feel the giggles erupting from that joyful little girl?!

Because cardies are known to be extraordinarily caring, we also tend to feel the world’s woes more deeply, so today we thought we’d try to offset this weighty week by sharing a laugh or two here. We felt the need to do that even more strongly after learning that our Cardie Community has lost a wonderful friend who definitely made us laugh, JoAnn Dalziel.

Revisit this fun Cardie Newsletter featuring JoAnn and you’ll see she was a hoot, that one. And here’s her reaction to that story which ran just months before she learned she had pancreatic cancer: “It is said that a star is never recognized in his/her own lifetime, but this is my proof that I am funny! Be assured that, if I get on Comedy Club,” she teased, “I will comp you front-row seats!”

JoAnn clearly loved to make everyone in her orbit laugh. And succeeded! In her honor, here’s the story we originally intended to share …

Our longtime sales director, Marguerite “Reet” Rawdin, retired last year, haha, giving her even more time to amuse friends! But years before, when her boys were just around 10 and 12, for Halloween, Reet made elaborate bird costumes for the three of them, complete with wide-expanse wings she’d created from feather boas. On the way to a party, they stopped to cheer up a friend in the hospital and, walking from the car toward the building, noticed four security guards in a first-floor office, eyeing them through floor-to-ceiling windows.

It was when Reet spied the guards starting to point and laugh at her brood that she made the brilliant, split-second decision: “Here’s what we’re going to do,” she informed her fledglings. “On the count of three, we’ll run as fast as we can, flapping our wings, right into those windows.” And that they did, much to the shock and major amusement of the guards, who may have been watching intently, but had no idea of the “splat!” they were in for. Ha! Can you imagine?!

It took Reet & Sons hours to get out of that hospital and on to the party that day … after Security invited them in for a closer look at those feathers, they happily went in to every room from which a patient called out to “Please come show me!”

Especially during these times that could weigh down even the lightest hearts, let’s make a point of seeking out more joy and laughter, cardies. Look for friends who make us laugh and be that friend in return. As Reet said when she read a draft of this story, “You know JoAnn is watching and rooting for us to go for the laughs … there in her own front-row seat!”

Feel free to do JoAnn proud by sharing your own funny-friends story below. :)