The laugh that made the Earth stand still. . .

If you don't know my Grandpa Jack, I'm sorry for you because you've never heard the best belly laugh known to man.

I bet it was the first sound he made 84 years ago today when he slid from his mother's womb and was like, "Hot damn! I'm gonna play me some golf and woo a girl with my fancy dance moves and then I'm going to have the best-looking genius granddaughter the world has ever known!"

And the doctor probably had a stroke when he heard that deep, happy chortle like Santa Claus swallowed The Joker and climbed inside my grandpa's baby soft skin. That laugh can silence a room and turn the energy up at the same time.

Grandpa doesn't do it so much because something's funny, but because it's his joyful sound. Like when he teasingly asks the waitress for gooseberry pie and she says they actually do serve it. Or when we're all sitting around the dinner table, full and drowsy, and he gets to talking about the old days. When he's had a few drinks and really gets going, a little pig-snort sneaks in and makes him laugh so hard that he's gasping for air.

So it's too bad you don't know my Grandpa. But the good news is, you know me, and if we've ever watched a goofy film together you've heard the crazy cackle-laugh I can't stifle. I bet you were totally embarrassed by it. For that, you can thank Grandpa Jack.

And while you're at it, wish him a Happy 84th.