Your stepdad’s corny jokes might be him talking to you in the only language he’s sure of. Laugh once.

Some people hand you a joke because an open sentence feels too risky. A stepdad who is not sure he has the right to be sentimental with you will reach for the one tool he trusts, and the bad pun is him knocking. The delivery is clumsy; the thing underneath it is not.

You do not have to pretend it was funny. One laugh, or even a groan that lands warm, tells him the channel is open. If you have a little more in you, ask him something he would like to answer.