A Reminder That Laughter is the Best Medicine
Watch as this very funny lady reminds us that laughter is the best medicine.
A friend of the couple who founded Home Instead Senior Care, Mary Maxwell was asked to give the invocation at the company's 2009 Convention. Initially it seemed like a normal prayer, but it soon took a very funny turn. Her deadpan delivery and lines like ...This is the first time I've ever been old... and it just sort of crept up on me ... soon had the franchise owners rolling in the aisles. With the timing of a professional comedian, Mary shines a very funny light on the foibles of aging, to the delight of this audience of senior-care experts.
Download a copy of the poem, Blessed In Aging (PDF 275KB), which Mary reads at the end of her prayer.
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Want to get Mary's perspective on a topic?
Send your questions and suggestions to mary.maxwell@homeinsteadinc.com.
February 16, 2012 at 10:08 am | Posted by matilda smith
A wonderful way to share humerous thoughts and comments about another phase of our lives which "olders" are blessed to experience. Forget yesterday and "our things" and enjoy people of our age. Mary, thank you for "Sharing is Carlng."
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February 12, 2012 at 5:41 pm | Posted by Joan Beaulieu
I loved this poem and the prayer presentation! I am getting up there (almost 68) so am quite familiar with our ageing nuances. Forgetting words is very hard for me - my husband usually fills in when I forget and I do the same for him. my memory hasn't "returned" to me yet. still can't remember a damn thing! walk into a room and forget what I was there for! put things away and can't remember where. (in a SAFE place?) so many changes but having a sense of humor about it all makes life worth living! thank you Mary!
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February 9, 2012 at 4:41 am | Posted by richard molnar
Thank you for today"s laugh. It was hilarious !
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February 5, 2012 at 3:10 pm | Posted by Charles Lee Carter
The fact that we recall something that we couldn't previously proves that we do not lose memory, we misplace it in a vast filing system and our subconscious is running a search program in the back round. Information is recalled, but after it is no longer relevant.
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February 5, 2012 at 2:51 pm | Posted by Charles Lee Carter
Why is it that when you go to bed you remember words, names and things to do you forgot during the previous day and the next day you remember that you remembered but forgot what you had remembered. Then there was that great invention idea you had the previous night. The next day, you remember you had a revolutionary idea but have no residual clue what it was. -------until the next night. deja vu what I'm talking about?
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January 12, 2012 at 6:10 pm | Posted by Laurie O'Connell
One of the secrets of ageing happily is to keep or develop a sense of humor, especially about oneself. Cheers to Mary!
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January 9, 2012 at 1:15 am | Posted by luba arko
What is this nonsense about forgetting things as we age? Everything is imprinted on our memory tape in our brain but the truth is that we don't want to remember some things...and yet we now and then are faced with those memories we want to forget! Not that they are necessarily hurtful memories, just that they are no longer necessary nor useful to us....for instance,....why do we remember some wedding and that auntie Edna wore a red dress??? Of course that is useless information now. What a pity that we cannot have a delete button just as we have on the computer....we can bring up a memory of some occasion or event, bad or good, and if we choose, we can just push some button (or pull on our left ear for example) and that memory will be gone forever.... I don't think that as we age we become forgetfull...NO NO No!!!! It is just that we have information OVERLOAD... So it would just be wonderful to delete the things we no longer want to remember so that we can make space in our brain computer for new information,,,and eliminate overload... The other day I was trying to remember the word that we use when we have opposites within a two word structure, like for instance Jumbo Shrimp Honest Lawyer etc.... and I was up all night trying to remember that the word I was searching for At around 6 a.m. I finally found it...it was OXYMORON I kept finding tens of other words that I seldom use, but it took me half the night to find the word oxymoron amongst all the vocabulary that I possess... see what I mean? And I could not call anyone at 4 a.m. and ask for help...
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December 20, 2011 at 10:36 pm | Posted by Meridith Allison
I refuse to age past 39 years old--that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I will not be joining the geriatric generation no matter what the calendar says. It's not the years of my life, it's the life in my years, thank you very much.
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December 7, 2011 at 7:13 pm | Posted by Sally Stoner Kreis
Mary,~~or should I say Mrs. Maxwell???, I had a teacher? Principal?? by the name of Mrs. Maxwell. If I'm mistaken, please forgive me. There are days I don't remember who I am~~why should I expect to remember details from the 1950's????? There seems to be alot of attention being focused on aging~~that's,I'm sure, because the people in government have a vested interest in the process, they are the same ones experiencing the phenomenon called being "challenging old" (I do hope that's the politically correct phrase) Politicians claim faulty memory when they are caught with their hands in the "cookie jar". I'm quite fond of the descriptive phrase I seem to be using of late~~"I don't have Alzheimers, I just have "some-timers" disease." My grandchildren have proudly provided another "descriptive phrase" ,'Just tell 'em you are "de-fragging". Another term just as endearing: I'm in the process of "deleting archival material" from my brain. !!! There are probably even more titles for joining the geriatric generation. Sadly, I've forgotten them. If, I've misspelled any words or used improper punctuation, please do not blame the wonderful education I received while attending St. Cecelia Grade School & Cathedral High School. Just add it to the list---forgetful. Sally Stoner Kreis
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November 26, 2011 at 7:39 pm | Posted by Robin Roach
I just revisited this site and have enjoyed it as much this time as the first time I saw it. Thank you so much for the added shorts! Sincerely, Robin Roach
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October 31, 2011 at 6:55 pm | Posted by Senior Comedian Headlines New Home Instead Senior Care Network Website | homeinsteadsd
[...] started as a simple prayer evolved into a comedic performance that brought down the house. Business owners were rolling in the [...]
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October 31, 2011 at 10:21 am | Posted by tracy semeniuk
Mary's prayer is a valuable learning tool. It should be used in seminars for health providers,old and new to the field to remind them it is personal. Be present for these people who are trusting you with their well being. Human dignity,empathy and perspective,don't we all deserve that from each other.
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