The Happiest Day of my Life
I had a difficult childhood due to the war, the bombings and the destruction. But in my adult life I was truly blessed, with caring parents, a loving husband and three children who were somewhat difficult in their teenage years, but turned into beautiful, honest, upright adults with values which honor us. We also had a beautiful house and all the signs of modest success, all of this providing me with great happiness.
But the absolutely happiest day had nothing to do with family or home. I always felt uncertain to express an opinion and admired everybody else who seemed so sure and had all the answers. I thought that I was just not as intelligent as everybody else and so, when the local college started a degree program for working adults, I thought I would try the first semester to see whether I was really dumber than the rest of the world.
On my first day in college I, almost 40 years old, sat in the first row of the class, quite convinced that I probably would not be able to understand anything. In came two professors, one laying out historical events and the other presenting the philosophical underpinnings of these events, and these professors, in their talks, opened up the world to me, let me see the human possibilities, the vastness of knowledge, the opportunity to think up questions and find answers, the ability of my mind to evaluate, understand and put into action those answers, and the need and absolute pleasure to research and experience and understand and learn until the end of my days. My soul, and it really was the first time that I knew I even had a soul, rose and expanded and took in all life and all people, the past and the future, and darkness and light. It was an unbelievable experience in its newness, and at night, with my family sitting around the dinner table, I remember saying: “I had a wonderful day! I will never be lonely or bored again,” and the light in me was still illuminating the world. I don’t think they knew what I was talking about, and today is really the first time that I put all of it into words, perhaps also to say that the light is still there, thanks to my professors that day at Queens College many years ago.