Chew your food, or this might happen!

I had the greatest hug last week. But the lead-in event started out deadly.

One evening, after grilling some beef kabobs, I enjoyed one chunk too much – and began to choke. My wife Laura came to my rescue, put her arms around me from behind and squeezed. And at least six more times. The chunk remained, but her moves gave me a tiny bit of an airway. She called 911 while I went to the floor, hacking like a cat with a hairball.