What was the happiest day of your life? It is a lot more pleasurable to think about the happy times in our lives. However, finding the happiest of the happy may not be so easy. The bad times seem to be etched in our minds, but how quickly we forget the happy times! Taking a journey through my past to answer this question, my mind sorts through weddings, vacations, love affairs, graduations, diplomas, certificates, first kisses, jobs, sporting events and sundry other activities and accomplishments. Somewhat surprisingly, I cannot fasten upon any of these as the “happiest day of my life.” Why is this? Am I looking in the wrong places? What about those book contracts, those great pay increases, and those unexpected financial windfalls? None of these seem to do the trick either! What about those great people I have met in my life? Did they help me to have the happiest day of my life? I must answer no to both of these questions.
So where then is the happiest day of my life? Why is it so elusive? Have you thought of your happiest day yet? What made it your happiest day? Was it easy to remember? Did you find it had much competition? Or perhaps, you are like me, unable to think of the happiest day in your life? Maybe, the happiest day of our lives are still to come and we are just waiting for it? On the other hand, maybe yesterday was the happiest day of our lives and we just did not realize it. Are you happiest when you simply live one day at a time and are thankful for the day you live? I think that each day that I can appreciate the smell of fresh air, the joy of a loving spouse, a good job to go to and excellent health is surely the happiest day of my life.
Aging Capriciously 
Jun 29, 2026 @ 12:04:14
You are right. Choosing a ‘happiest day’ is tricky, and it could entail a long treatise on what constitutes happiness or how to compare one happy day to another and measure the factors involved therein.
So, I’ll just jump straight in. Wedding day. First ‘happy day’ that came to mind. FabGirl and I have been married for 52+ years and going strong, too.
Competitors? Graduation from high school. Graduation from college. The last day of Basic Training. The day we officially adopted our children. First day of Retirement. etc etc etc
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Jun 29, 2026 @ 13:27:47
Ed. Funny, I cannot think of the “happiest” day of my life. I honestly think the happiest I ever am is when I go to sleep at night with my wife of 38 years and we cuddle up together and drift off to sleep. Everytime, this happens, I feel so peaceful and everything in the world feels right; at least until I wake up again. I congratulate you on your 52 + years of marriage. That is something to be proud of. They should have people like you Ed and your spouse doing marriage counseling programs before people get married so that they can see what it takes to keep a marriage together. Not love at first sight but love that builds with effort and discipline over a lifetime. John
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Jun 30, 2026 @ 07:04:22
Your description of those happy moments cuddled up with your wife is beautiful, John. Believe it or not, part of my ‘past life’ includes being a pastor, and I have done many pre-marital counseling sessions; even with my own daughters. Our son joined the AF and got married too fast and far away for us to be there! Interesting, though. Our three kids witnessed our marriage first hand, but all three of them have been divorced; our son, three times. Our oldest managed to stay married for 28 years. Our youngest was divorced twice, then widowed. The generations behind us do seem to have a different perspective regarding marriage.
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Jun 30, 2026 @ 12:29:38
Ed,, The history of your children’s relationships would make a good story if there was an etiology you could ascribe to their cases. I had an advisor in grad school who always told me to have a “Model” to use when you attempt an analysis of some situation or condition. Later I learned the limitations of models from the famous Club of Rome group. Still later, I adapted the quote by Dr. George Box from the U of Wis that “All models are wrong but some are useful.” I guess you could say I traveled full circle around the concept of models and landed smack dab in the middle where Aristotles “Golden Mean” lay. It only took me 2500 years to learn this. I am a slow learner. Thanks for sharing some of your life with me. I appreciate it. I have written several blogs describing some of my life. I will have to pick out some and send them to you. I am headed to URgent Care now to see if they can fix me. John
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Jun 30, 2026 @ 13:50:42
May the Urgent Care treat you well and diagnose you properly, my friend.
More on ‘models’ next time, though. Fascinating subject.
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Jun 30, 2026 @ 17:45:01
Thanks, I am hoping the meds they prescribed work better than the antibiotics did.
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