Lines That Make You Laugh…

I grew up hearing the statement, “I had to laugh…”

The dot dot dot is important. I grew up with lots of dot dot dots, too.

My mother likes to tell stories of her experiences. Her father was a story teller and an artist. My father made monosyllabic grunting noises and basically tuned all those around him out. He never told me a story.

My father-in-law likes to tell the same stories, over and over. I enjoy pointing out to the husband when he’s repeating something he’s already told me that he’s turning into his dad.

But I am safe. This is one area I will not turn into my mother. I can’t tell a story, joke, cite a quote, or even quickly google what it is I’m trying to convey. That gene skipped out and had a smoke the day it was supposed to be handed out in pre-natal class. I’ve never even had the chance to say, “I had to laugh (dot dot dot)”.

So how is it a person ends up in a story-telling medium? I’m as tangential as they come and can literally lose the plot without a compass on a dime on a slow boat to China. Literally. It’s almost like a gift in itself. Add the sudden memory lapses of estrogen on crack and you’ve got one wrinkled space cadet.

So what was I saying?

My mother will start to relay a moment beginning with the line, “I had to laugh…” and start laughing before the story begins. Many hee hees later her captive audience starts to wonder if attempts at escape would really be futile. Her story is rarely as memorable as the laugh, or the line, “I had to laugh…”.

It’s become one of those lines that’s brought out in quiet moments as an inside joke. Say it with the accent and it’s good for some chuckles. Best part? You never have to actually tell the dot dot dots.