I used to be pretty serious, too, and it wasn't my super yet humor-challenged hubby, it was a work friend.
I'd been a superstar in Boston advertising and very business oriented. Fortunately, when I met Earl I knew a joke and it was a good comeback for Earl's. He enjoyed the joke and took me under his wing.
Earl had just gotten back to work from a triple heart by-pass, one of the first, and had an extraordinary love of life. I was the age of his daughter, that might have helped, and he taught me how to tell jokes and to help people laugh. He was a wonderful man, God Bless him, and I still miss his jaunty walk and his loud jokes.