From the Same Place
His 4-month-old self can't decide
Sculpture artist unknown, Colorado
Collection of Harry and Jewell Spooner
From the Same Place
His 4-month-old self can’t decide
can’t decide whether to cry or laugh
whether to cry or laugh or both.
So he goes with both.
He is crying about something
(it’s hard to know just what)
so we love him and hold him
rock him and coo to him
to no avail
so his daddy begins making
funny faces and funny sounds.
And the crying stops. Mostly.
And he laughs. Mostly.
Then he cries again. Mostly.
Then laughs again. Mostly.
Back and forth and back and forth
his little emotions bounce.
I rub his tiny crying laughing head
and assure him that it is ok
to cry and laugh and cry and laugh
all at the same time.
“Tears and laughter come from the same place,”
I tell him
(as if he he needs an explanation).
“The very same place. They live in there together,”
I further explain to him, my palm patting his tiny heart.
“And sometimes they dance together
and become one and the same.”
He seems to understand.
Maybe.
Not mostly.
Just maybe.
Sometimes I need somebody
to rub my crying laughing head
to pat my heart
and say to me,
“Tears and laughter come from the same place.
The very same place. They live in there together.
And sometimes they dance together
and become one and the same.”
Bless’edly one and the same,
telling us that something is important
re-membering us to something
re-membering us to something
that is important
that is important
to us.
By Ellen Gabardi
July 2026The spoken version is below:
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