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.
