You just reminded me of an Irish joke I told to a group of people last weekend. Stay tuned . . .
"What's the news, Dad?" Seamus asked him.
Paddy took a deep breath.
"'Tis not good, me lad," he said, "I've got cancer, and the good doctor says I've got but a few months to live."
Seamus sat in stunned silence, but his father went on.
"Now you and I are gonna go right over to the pub," he said, "And we can either drink cheerfully or drink in misery, so let's make up our mind to drink cheerfully."
Seamus drove directly to Paddy's favorite pub. They spent many an hour their that afternoon, drinking their favorite Irish ale and singing their favorite Irish songs. When the afternoon stretched into evening, a group of Paddy's best friends showed up. Knowing Paddy the way they did, they could not tell by his revelry whether his visit to the doctor had been a good one or a bad one.
"What's the news, Paddy?" one of them asked.
"'Tis not good, me friend," he said, "I've got AIDS, and the good doctor says I've got but a few months to live."
Seamus gave his father a startled look, but Paddy glared at him before he could say anything.
On their way home that evening, Seamus asked his father why he had told a story like that.
"Those are all your best friends," he said, "And they're going to remember you as someone who died of AIDS, not cancer!"
"They may be mah best friends, Seamus," Paddy replied, "BUT I WANT THEM TO KEEP THUR HANDS OFF YAH MUTHA AFTER I'M GAWN!!!!"
Just a little attempt a humor.