Sometimes a slap-stick moment comes out that reminds us that our marriage is improved by a serving of humor.

My husband goes to a pain management clinic for a back procedure every few months. This involves several processes, but always includes a steroid injection or two that develops into jittery goofiness.

Yesterday, after my husband’s post-procedure nap, we got into the car to head out for dinner. The outside temperature was 102 degrees, and the immediate hot air blasting out of the car vents was enough to make me want to jump back out into the much cooler heat. So I reached for the dial to turn the blower off.

My action was immediately intercepted, “Oh no, you have to have the blower going so the gate will open!”

Seriously, “Are you pulling my leg?” Either the meds had really done a number on him, which would have been understood, or he was pulling one of his pranks on me — which has been a part of our marriage.

“No, seriously, the compressor will not be exposed, so it will not kick in. The gate has to open.”

Was I suddenly on Mars? Was I having a brain spasm? At the 15-year mark in our marriage, I’ve learned to let some things go. Don’t make life more difficult by questioning.

So, I suffered through the death-inducing hot air and I drove through the apartment gate. Then I remarked, “There is no compressor in that gate!”

Well, we both laughed until we were crying. Pull me over officer, I am drunk (with laughter). Right? Apparently, as my refrigeration tech husband then explained to me, inside the air conditioning duct is a little door (which he called a gate) that remains closed when the blower is shut off. Cooling will not begin to occur unless the gate is open.

Life is full of humor. The book of laughter continues to fill.

The funniest moment we experienced happened in our first year of marriage. I was standing in the kitchen and heard my husband calling me from the yard, “Come here, you’ve got to see this.” So I walked out on the deck and looked down to see my man covered with chocolate-colored mud from head to toe, with white eyes glaring where his glasses had been on his face. Imagine it as if he had worn little round cups that had shielded his eyes as he fell. This in-grained image continues to bring on the best of belly laughs, happy memories surface, and relaxation follows suit.

I think humor is critical in marriage. We must forgive. We must take life as it comes. Life is hard, and marriage isn’t any easier. Living with our best friend helps, and thank goodness for laughter!