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One Last Thing…
Our need to laugh-or, indeed, howl-in the face of awfulness is exactly what makes us human. Comedian Eddie Brill knows that, which is why his act treads some sensitive territory. At one point in his routine, he talks about how hot it is in Iraq. "It's so hot there," he says, "that the suicide bombers are blowing themselves up just for the breeze." The line is dark, and it gets a laugh every time.When a moment is freaky or sad or even tragic, laughter restores both normalcy and hope.
Last week, I got our son Gus's report card. Despite reading and doing math ahead of grade level, he essentially can't function in school. He is delayed in every social and behavioral marker. He won't do anything with a group of kids, speaks loudly and inappropriately in class, acts up to get attention, and has such poor motor skills that at six, he can barely write his own name.
My husband, John, and I looked at the card together in grim silence. Then we got to phys ed. The gym teacher reported that Gus was advanced for his age-in skipping. "Look!" said John. "Our son is gifted."
We snickered like idiots for a while. But you know what? Gus is our gift, for so many reasons, not the least of which is: He's just so funny. When we laugh about him, we feel better about the future. It works every time.
Leave no gravestone unturned if you're looking for guffaws.
"Here lies Johnny Yeast - Pardon me for not rising" Ruidoso, New Mexico
"Stranger tread this ground with gravity - Dentist Brown is filling his last cavity" St. George's Church, Edinburgh, Scotland
"None of us ever voted for Roosevelt or Truman" Hallenbeck Family Elgin, Minnesota
"At rest beneath this slab of stone - Lies stingy Jimmy Wyatt - He died one morning just at ten - And saved a dinner by it" Falkirk, England
"Here lies John Ross - Kicked by a hoss" Kendel Parish Church, Westmoreland, England
From Last Laughs by Kathleen E. Miller (Sterling)
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The evening news has been pretty bleak of late. As these headlines from the satirical newspaper - The Onion prove, one way to cope is to laugh at it.
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