Why did Caroll Laugh?

When my mother, Reta, was in her 70s, long after my father had passed, she met a wonderful man named Caroll. My mother did not want to be alone. She loved Caroll, so they got married. They lived in a small town just outside Galveston on Galveston Island, about 20 minutes from Galveston. Caroll was a devoted Catholic. He studied the bible each day. Eventually my mother became a Catholic as well. I loved Caroll. He was always thinking deep about life and the world. He often challenged me to see with a different set of eyes with his topics of conversation. Caroll was a strong, courageous man. He was retired military; he was trained to serve our country by jumping out of airplanes behind enemy lines. He never spoke about his military life to me. I do not recall any war stories from him. Reta and Caroll lived years without a life crisis. I am sure they were very happy.

However, one-day life took a left turn for Reta and Caroll. Caroll got sick. He had a blood disease that the experts could not diagnosis. The only thing that kept him alive was periodic blood transfusions. Eventually the constant blood transfusions enlarged his heart.

One day Reta and Caroll were on their way to hear a symphony in Galveston. They were all dressed up for the symphony. Caroll was driving their pick-up truck (it is required that everyone in Texas have at least one pick-up truck) on the highway to Galveston. Without warning, Caroll had a massive heart attack. Reta managed to grab the wheel and avoid a crash by maneuvering their pick-up to a safe stop. How she managed to do that still amazes me.

Reta managed to flag down a passing car. The driver gave Caroll CPR. I think he may have been an off-duty paramedic. “911” was called and a life-flight helicopter carried Caroll to the hospital. At the hospital Caroll was stabilized. My mom called me and Audrey and I rushed to Galveston from Nacogdoches. When we got to the hospital, we found my mom standing in a hallway outside ICU. My mom and I went into ICU to see Caroll. He was conscious, but he did not speak. My mom went to his bedside and told him she loved him. Obviously she must have had great concern in her eyes. I approached Caroll's bed with great concern in my eyes as well. Caroll must have known he was on his death bed. He looked at us, moving his eyes from my mom to me a couple of times, and then Caroll laughed out loud. He was laughing at us, or perhaps he was laughing at our concern for him; I am not sure. After laughing, he continued to just giggle. Shortly there after he passed away. My mom ignored the laughing incident. We never spoke about Carroll’s laugh. I never told anyone except Audrey until now. Why do you think Carroll laughed and giggled on his death bed? Send me an email (mlang@ lcsdg.com) with your thoughts. I would love to know what you think. Put “Carroll’s laugh” in the subject field of the email.