ng_moonmoth

Initial post on what I'm doing here.

13. What is your happiest memory?

I find comparing degree of happiness difficult. And how does one factor in the concerns or questions that come with many of the customary happy moments? I'll settle for a moment of unalloyed great happiness over moments of possibly greater happiness compromised by other factors.

One activity I have participated in is competing in bridge tournaments. Many of the events that take place are truly open -- one can enter the same event that the best players at the tournament are playing in. Entering one of the premier events on the national tournament schedule, a team competition where two partnerships of two from each team play another team in all-day single elimination matches, three friends of mine and I faced a team where every member had multiple national championships to their credit, and some of them were world champions whose names you might find atop the bridge column in your local newspaper. This was quite a bit over our heads, but we had entered the event hoping to get a match like this and were looking forward to the opportunity. We played them nearly even through the first three quarters, and then carried the fourth quarter convincingly and won handily.

We had all believed we were capable of playing at that level, but to get definitive confirmation of that, against that caliber of team, was a total surprise to us. I spent several minutes after confirming the result with our opponents, and our team receiving gracious concessions from the world champions on the opposing team, floating on a cloud of pure happiness. After which we all realized it was time to head off to our hotel rooms and get ready for the next day's match. But it was still a feeling very much on a par with other moments of great happiness in my life.