Nothing else matters more than sharing kind thoughts with friends and those you care about. Let me tell you a few reasons why. Friends carry one another burdens. Friends make friends laugh. And friends make life fun. I have friends scattered around the globe and they enrich my life. I’m the connection point in this story that spans three countries. I hope the story stretches even farther.

It all began as the result of a writing prompt from an Irish group I’m part of. They gave us about 10 minutes to answer the following question.

If you were one of the seven dwarfs, which one would you be?

My initial reaction. Ugh. What am I going to write?

Then the words flowed. I read, and to my amazement, the group laughed.

The next day, I was chatting with an overseas friend, suffering from the effects of COVID, and she stated she knew she was grumpy, and hated feeling so. I offered to share what I written, hoping she’d find humor in the piece.

What I received back was totally unexpected. It was delightful and left me laughing. My husband, not wanting to be left out of the humor, read both pieces and joined me in the laughter.

Words are so powerful. If you can share something which will lighten another person’s burden—I encourage you to do so.

Here are the two pieces. If you have a response to either, please leave a comment.

Who knows what type of dialog we may get going here…

The prompt:

If you were one of the seven dwarfs, which one would you be?

Today, I would be GRUMPY. You know how they say one gets up on the wrong side of the bed? How can that be? I share my bed, which means I only have ONE side to get up from. If I’m GRUMPY today, and only have one side to get up from, does that mean I’ll be GRUMPY again tomorrow, and the day after?

I can’t bear the thought of having the name GRUMPY hung around my neck. It feels like a two ton weight. Carrying this burden around continues to wear me down.

“Get outa my way! Can’t you see? I’ve got a load to carry and you’re making my work harder than it needs to be.”

“Don’t you smile at me! There’s nothing to be happy about today.”

“You. You, over there… Stop talking about me. You’d be GRUMPY too if you had to lug this rock around with no one to help you.”

“Don’t go telling me what to do. I’ve gotta mind of my own.”

“When will this terrible day end? …and who else is going to show up thinking they can tell me what to do.”

“What’s wrong with this porridge? It isn’t sweet, and it has lumps in it?”

“Time for bed again already?”

“Hey you. Shut off the lights and shut up your mouth. I wanta get some sleep.”

The response:

Hi, I am GRUMPY this week and I am told Covid is responsible for that bad feeling. I have been SNEEZY, SLEEPY, DOPEY and DOC too. I was so HAPPY to talk to you again today, but when I am better, I think I will be my old self BASHFUL again xx

All the dwarfs loved your poem and amazed you got that out in a few minutes. Thank you for sharing it with me, love from BASHFUL xx

–by Sony Gordon-Farleigh