The Happiest Day of My Life
It wasn’t the day I got married, or the day my children were born.
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The happiest day of my life wasn’t the day I got married, or the day my children were born.
Those were memorable days, but the happiest day was exactly four years ago, February 14th, 2020. That’s the day we brought our twins home from the hospital when they were two days old. They had no complications and needed no NICU stays, which was a huge relief. I was doing so well I didn’t need the full three days of in-patient c-section recovery. I was thrilled to get out of our hospital room which was cramped with two bassinets, no sleep, and constant staff dropping by. We dressed the twins in matching black and red checkered fleece onesies for the 10-minute car ride home. As Travis rounded the corner of our block, four and half-year-old Asher was in the yard with a telescope trying to spot the new brothers he was desperately excited to meet. My parents were there, as was my Mother-in-Law, who’d moved the year before from Minnesota to just five blocks from our house.
Asher meeting the twins was the stuff of fantasies. He was literally jumping for joy. He wanted to kiss them, play with them, share his stuffed animals, and help feed the twins. He couldn’t believe his luck that most people only got one baby, but he had not one but two little brothers. I felt like I’d climbed the biggest mountain, both physically and emotionally of my life, and everyone had made it. I was deliriously exhausted but felt the most genuine sense of peace and happiness I’ve ever experienced. Our family was all here together. Our community was with us. Everything was going to be OK.
I try to remember that day like I’m looking at it in a pretty glass terrarium. I try to connect to how I felt at the moment and not cloud it with my memories of what came after: the pandemic that I was oblivious to, forming just behind me.
But this newsletter isn’t meant to rehash everything that came next. It’s meant to pause for a moment of joy on making it here, to February 14, 2024. I’m thinking a lot about the family, friends, work colleagues, movement sisters, Double Shift supporters, and local communities who’ve enriched my life in the last four years. I’m thinking about the talented early childhood educators, caregivers, teachers, camp counselors, and coaches who have enriched my children’s lives since they were born. I’ve come to believe that happiness comes from doing this thing we call life with others. Thanks for being part of mine.
A Great Read: As I reflect on my life four years ago, I can't help but think a lot about the emotional and community support our Mealtrain provided. Food writer and cookbook author Cathy Erway just published a great essay in TASTE on their history and the transformative power of being on the receiving end of one in a time of need.
An exciting announcement about this newsletter is coming next week.🍾
For this week’s members-only thread, I want to know, what was the happiest day of your life? I’d especially love to hear about unexpected days and not the typical milestone ones.