Good medicine

There are times in our lives when we all need fast-acting, long-lasting, deep-healing Laugh Therapy. If I were in charge of FEMA or the Red Cross, I would be showing the Muppets First Season dvd on the JumboTron in every basketball arena or domed stadium turned refugee center. And I would have people reading James Herriot stories aloud 24/7 in some quiet hallway. If you've ever been "crackerdog", or gone "flopbot", you know that a story may be just what you need. We are never too old to benefit from listening to a well-read story.

I have never been as ill as I was ten years ago with pleurisy. The memory of my son reading James Herriot stories to me during that horrible time is one I will always treasure. It hurt to laugh, just as it hurt to cough, but every laugh he and I shared gave me strength to heal.

To stay healthy, we all need the RDA dose of laughing every single day, along with that apple to keep the doctor away, the dried apricot for cowboy regularity, and the carrot so we can see in the dark. We all need the Muppet Swedish chef as much as we need real comfort food.