My Happy List

I love, love, love John Denver. I’ll never forget that day in the early 70’s (I was maybe 9 or 10) when my older brother Rob had me totally convinced that John “Country Boy” Denver was our long-lost cousin (after all, he’s blond like us, right?). Maybe I just wanted to believe! Anyway, for that half-hour or so, I was one happy kid!

The other day while sitting in my car messing with my cell phone camera, I captured an interesting image, instantly reminding me of one of my favorite Denver songs—Sunshine on My Shoulders—and this fleeting moment of childhood happiness.

I’ve always been on Team Cup-Half-Full and try to look at the brighter side of life, and not because I live in some sort of La-La Land. Oh, no…I’ve lived through many ’a dark day but make a conscious choice every day to turn my face toward the sunshine—toward happiness.

So with this is mind I’d like to share with you (in no particular order) 10 things in this life that make me incredibly happy (my family not included. They are perched at the tippy-top of my Happy List).

Baby Faces: There’s a reason I have nine kids. “Nuf said.

The Mountains: I grew up at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I skied them every winter and camped in them every summer. Mountain air makes me feel alive.

The Beach: My love of this happy-place is fairly new. I suppose it’s what happens when you marry a self-proclaimed beach bum. I still love my mountains, but it doesn’t take many trips to the beach to be converted.

Books: This is a love that wasn’t developed until my mid-twenties. As I nursed my babies, I read. We were both nourished as we entered a new world. And for the record, my favorite book is Anne of Green Gables. Molly Chambers, the main character from my first published novel, Molly Mormon? was a total mesh of Anne Shirley and Yours Truly, down to the tips of her strawberry blond hair.

The BBC: Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, and anything Austenesque. My little sis says it’s in our English roots. Must be!

Diet Coke and Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate: I’m combining these two together just because. They both bring me way more happiness than they should…so much so that they’re mentioned in the acknowledgements of my novel, Shayla Witherwood: A Half-Faerie Tale.

Music: Most of my favorite music (including Mr. Denver’s) comes from the 70’s and 80’s. Why mess with perfection? Paco and I love to attend concerts and in the past few years have seen Earth Wind and Fire, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan), Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks, Air Supply, Little River Band, and we even dipped into the 90’s and saw The Backstreet Boys.

Dancing: My memories of dancing reach back to the 70’s with American Bandstand and my sisters. I was on drill/dance teams in both high school and college. Today, Paco and I love to dance salsa.

My Dog: I’m not sure I’ve loved any non-human as much as I love this little guy, and would venture to say, I love him more than most humans. He’s part of my family—part of my heart. Mi Panchito!

And last but not least…

Writing: What can I say? There have been times I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it, times I haven’t written much, times when it’s about all I did, and even a brief period when it was taken away from me (long story for another day). All in all, writing is me, my purpose—something I have to do.

What is your sunshine--what brings you happiness? Please share in the comments.

Tamra Torero is Wife to Paco, Momma to nine, Grandma of two, Bakery Manager, author of Shayla Witherwood: A Half-Faerie Tale and co-author of a Christmas novel,The Lost Son, with her son, Preston Norton. Not only does she have a Happy List, she has a Happy Place...and urges everyone to find theirs.