I'm Adelimo and this is the slowdown.

I was just texting my best friend as I sat down to work on this episode and she wrote

any fun ones about our best friendship, it immediately made me laugh, which I needed

to do, which somehow she always knows I need to do.

If you know me personally, you would picture me laughing.

I laugh a lot.

You might read my poems or listen to my episodes and think I'm always serious or contemplative

and I'm those things too.

But mostly I'm laughing.

And it's not just because my best friends are comic geniuses, but it's also because

they know what I need.

Once when two people in my life were dying of cancer and there was very little light

in the world, we were walking through Brooklyn and because it was Brooklyn, a man dressed

as a clown walked by.

We didn't say anything, but after a little while my friend said, I know.

I know what you're thinking.

It's like even that clown has cancer and I burst into laughter.

Sure, tears probably followed, but it felt so good to laugh, even in the awfulness.

Nearly 25 years ago, we were in a yoga class in Seattle and the instructor said to switch

feet while you were in the lotus pose.

And T held both of her feet up to me and said, oh no, I don't know which foot was on top.

And I laughed so hard that the poor kind yoga instructor had to guide the class to ignore

...