Are you prone to slips of the tongue? I sure am.
When my father-in-law, age 90, was hospitalized near the end of his life, we drove down to visit him, and my brother- and sister-in-law invited us to meet them afterwards at a favorite eatery near their place, which we did. Usually, we’d be joking around together, but on that day, the mood was understandably solemn.
As we stood outside the restaurant after the meal, I wanted to thank them for their hospitality, but it came out as, “Dennis, we really appreciate your personality.”
He said, “I do my best.”
We laughed so hard, our muscles gave out. Our son doubled over and did a back somersault, and we women sprawled across the hood of the nearest car like beach towels drying in the sun. When we recovered enough to straighten up, we saw diners in the restaurant gawking out the windows at us. Glad they enjoyed the spectacle.
More than that, we were refreshed. Isn’t hearty laughter cathartic?
Posted on June 1, 2016 (one day later than Humor Tuesday)
Norma Nill 
The heartier the laughter, the more effective its medicinal qualities.
(That’s an old Guamanian saying I just made up.)
Great quote, Doug! 🙂 Reminds me of the verse that says, “A merry heart does good, like a medicine.” (Proverbs 17:22) I appreciate your coming by today.
LOL. Thanks for the reminder of a fun time–a welcome respite, as you say, at a solemn time. Shared it with Dennis, too.
Glad you enjoyed the nostalgia, Judy. Hope I got all the details right. It’s hard to remember all the nuances, as we’ve shared so many doubling-over-with-laughter moments with you two. I appreciate your sharing it with Dennis, too.
I know what you mean about the deets. Dennis and I often disagree about circs and finer points of things we remember in common. I remember all the things you said in this post but thought of them as separate incidents. The most recent disagreement Dennis and I had concerning memory was over the zinger Al Franken gave Alex Trebek on *Jeopardy!* Even after we reviewed it online, we still disagreed about the original disagreement! Ha!
That’s so funny, Judy, that you disagreed about the original disagreement! Your comment made me research Al Franken’s dig. Alex said he and Al had done 20 USO tours. Franken responded: “It’s been an amazing experience for me every time I’ve done it — even more amazing for you because, normally to do a USO show, you have to have some sort of talent.” I took that to mean Alex didn’t sing, dance, do comedy, but what does Al do?
Quote from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/05/19/franken-celebrity-jeopardy-winner/84628712/
LOL, what you said would be a zinger to Franken. Before he was elected as a senator from Minnesota, he was a comedian and comedy writer. Used to play Stuart Smalley the recovering insecurity sufferer on *SNL* (“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”). He’s also written a number of books, including one about politicians “and other big fat liars.”
Dear me. Didn’t remember that he was a comedian as well as a senator. Too funny. But honestly, I never intended to insult him, Judy!
Yes, love times when laughter takes over. Never will forget our Panama Canal cruise when my sister and a cousin and I were playing a card game “You’ve Been Sentenced.” We were laughing so hard that soon we looked around and the whole game room had cleared out!
I know what you mean, Carolyn! Sounds like a fun card game. Thanks!
A friend told the story of recently laughing at all the cartoons in New Yorker magazine while waiting for her doctor in the exam room. She reports her blood pressure was literally 20 points lower after all the laughter!
That’s really something, Diane. Someone should do a study of the effects of laughter on blood pressure – or maybe they already have. Thanks!
Love those uncontrollable laughs! My embarrassing “slip of the tongue” recently : To set the stage, let me mention that our Seattle area garbage pick up is done by the company “Waste Management Northwest”. So at work, part of my Health Screening duties is measuring client’s waist size. I had a particularly long event one day and near the end, I said to a client, “Now it’s time to do your waste management”, instead of “waist measurement!” I didn’t realize my slip until the male client replied, without missing a beat, “No thank you, my garbage pick up is not until Friday!”
Thanks for sharing that funny slip, Marilee, and comeback by your client! You make me wish I’d written down all the ones I’ve made over the years.