MountainMornings

Most of my friends have already dropped their children off at college. Some return home to an empty house, they throw themselves over their child’s empty bed and weep, or they do a little dance of jubilation, or land somewhere between those two emotions. But wouldn’t it be nice if we parents knew we’d sent our progeny off to one of the “Happiest Colleges” in America? Well, let’s hear it for this little known gem, one of Old Dominion’s finest, James Madison University. Ranked by Newsweek today, right up there with Harvard and Yale, as having the happiest students, …”JMU received high marks for dining options, nightlife, and its student-teacher ratio.” Oh, and having the most sunny days per year!

Which leads me to wonder about the world’s happiest countries. Everyone’s heard of Bhutan right? Here is what His Majesty King Khesar, The 5th Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan said: “Whatever work we do, whatever goals we have – and no matter how these may change in this changing world – ultimately without peace, security and happiness we have nothing. That is the essence of the philosophy of Gross National Happiness. Our most important goal is the peace and happiness of our people…” I like the idea of trying to measure happiness. Doctors have a checklist for depression, so why not happiness?

Thomas Jefferson included happiness at the last minute in our country’s Constitution when he wrote that we the people were entitled to such rights as “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Unfortunately, according to the experts at Monticello, he never fully explained what that meant. They do say that he may have been influenced, “…by George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights (adopted June 12, 1776), which referred to “the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” So yes, sunny hurricane-free days, freedom from fear and retail therapy, that’s a good start. While our country currently suffers from high unemployment levels and its lowest consumer confidence index in years and prepares to memorialize the tenth anniversary of 9/11, maybe we should also try and make our way back to happiness.

A Day at Monticello

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NY Gov Andrew Cuomo said about Hurricane Irene, “It could have been worse, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t significant damage.” There was a time when everyone was talking about what kind of epitaph they wanted on their tombstone, that I said “It could’ve been worse.” Everyone would always laugh, but not everyone got the point. Bob’s Grandfather Sam, got on the boat from Russsia to follow his first love, Etty, and towards the end of his life he wrote about his journey to America. In Yiddish. And its title was “Better it Couldn’t Be.”

Sam brought with him a sewing machine and a few shekels, eventually he owned the coat company in Brooklyn. Only in this country can the Jewish Grandson of an immigrant tailor become a physician and marry the Daughter of an Irish Flapper. My husband, Bob, had Sam’s book translated and bound for all the relatives who attended the Bride’s Bat Mitzvah. Needless to say, his love for Etty figured prominently in the narrative. And it spoke to weathering the myriad storms of life with the love of your best friend by your side.

I’ve pretty much tried to get rid of those modal verbs of probability, the “woulda, coulda and shouldas” since my early Catholic School years. They imply criticism and condescension. But I’d have to agree with Sam about this past week. I survived my very first earthquake with Bob out of town. And the Rocker came home. He evacuated his Asbury Park house with his girlfriend after emptying their basement and parking her car on the second level of a garage. Hurricane Irene spoiled our plans for some white water rafting, but gave them some time to fly around the Blue Ridge with our resident Ambassador Pilot. We get to look at the big picture sometimes, and it couldn’t be better!

Dave and Caitly

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