“Life Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”
Declaration of Independence
My Version - July 2011
Source is in c:\My files\ LLPHxxx

Dear Happiness Seeker,
	I decided that “happiness” is too small a subject for a book , although I have tried to do so ( see our books, later in letter) , and too much of a subject for an email posting.
	It seems to me that the key modifying words are “The pursuit of.....”. 
	Happiness is where you find it. A child snuggling into bed between its parents is just one of them. Watching your children grow up is another. Watching your grandchildren can be another. Not always, and not all the time, because time and places change events, and your perception of them. Charles Schultze produced a book - “Happiness is a warm puppy;” Our oldest daughter Ellen produced an item on the web,, accessible via “Levyfamily.org (Xmas memories) ” where she describes her reactions to family Christmas times.
	. I’m sure that if you looked at your life and times you could fill up a book with the good things that have happened. 
	Every year since we’ve been married we’ve sent a Christmas letter to our family and friends. We try not to have it include “keeping up with the Joneses” type info, nor, as we’ve become older, do we fill it up with “organ recitals” describing our aches and pains. We try to talk about the good things that have happened, what’s happening with our family members, and any fun things that are similar to things that any of us may have happened to do or encounter. 
Examples: . Have you ever been in a railway passenger car that developed “a flat tire”? We were - they called it a flat on one wheel, but it was just as delaying as a flat tire. Have you ever driven down a bumpy dirt road seeing no one for miles, pulling over to let a truck going the other way get by, and then starting driving again only to say, “Either the road has gotten bumpier, or we’ve got a flat tire.” That was a real flat tire, and led to a minor adventure - just trying to get the flat replaced. 
	Happiness is not a state that you reach, and then stay in, at least not in our experience. I sometimes see articles on “poor little rich girls” like Paris Hilton or Linda Lohan, or Shirley Temple. And I think, “They, too, are in the pursuit of happiness.” And to some extent they are proof that money doesn’t buy happiness, it just makes being miserable more comfortable.
	I’m sure you’re aware of “Whether you’re rich or poor it’s nice to have money coming in.” 
	Okay. Make a list of things you’ve done in your life; the things you done for free or for money. I’ll give you some of  my list, starting about age 12, the year that both of my grandfathers died. Obviously not the happiest of years. But there are some bits or lots of “happiness” in all of these. 
	Boy scouts - camping in the woods in an area in NYC that wasn’t developed, but would be. Where a part of our camping gear was a pipe wrench so we could get cooking and washing water from a fire hydrant
	Scout camp where I learned to swim and canoe
	Mowing grass which I did as a family chore, to earn a quarter, or for a couple of days a week with two of us taking turns on the power mower to cut all of a lawn. 
	High school - all boys, with lots of shop classes which I wasn’t very good at, but were interesting and fun. I got passing grades.
	Church young people’s group where I discovered that girls weren’t just for throwing snowballs at, or insulting. Weekend retreats when I found out which ones were willing to do their share, and which ones weren’t.
	Counselor at a fresh air camp (volunteer) for children from the poor sections of the Bronx and Manhattan. And a staff who mostly came from the same areas. We worked half time, alternating shifts of staff, so half time was guiding our groups, and half time was “vacation.”
	Working as a caretaker’s assistant, maintaining the grounds and buildings, and doing all the “dirty” jobs that a summer camp could have.
	Digging out sewer lines - part time in college, part time as part of a later job running a hotel and campground, part time as a caretaker’s assistant. 
	Army - 1951 -55 Korea. Far enough back so I wasn’t shot at, far enough forward so that I wasn’t having bombs dropped on us. 
	Stock clerk in a lumberyard.
	Rodman on a survey crew
	Electronic lab assistant - college part time
	Running and maintaining a mass spectrometer - college part time
	Part time “counselor” in a neighborhood house in downtown Albany, NY.
	Teaching school and supporting after school activities..
	Belonging to an Outing Club in college that climbed mountains and went on camping trips through the year.
	Doing those same things with the same people years later.  
	Running a small hotel and campground..
	Looking for a job in NY City, and finding one in Santa Monica, California
	Becoming a programmer on “Walk through” computers , and through 31 years have them get smaller and smaller, and faster and faster. Writing programs and maintaining systems. 
	Taking trips and sleeping in tents, the back of a van,  in leantos, and in motels or small hotels.
	Red Cross First Aid instructor.
	Red Cross Disaster Team member.
	Community Emergency Response Team member.
	Junior machinist in a machine shop. 
	Teaching computer classes in the US, England, Canada, and Australia. 
	Being in, or driving through,  all 50 States.
	Having a wife who never complained when I said “we’re moving agin” and five girls who were equally willing to go through the creation of a new circle of friends. (And not finding that such an easy job.)
	Having the girls grow older and more skillful, marry and some of them having children.
	Having the girls regard their sisters as friends, and the grandchildren being willing to play with one another.
	Traveling across the country in rain and shine and seeing some of the places that those walking across on foot found memorable.
	Enjoying every serendipitous experience. 

Specifically things such as:
-An almost new-born baby holding onto your finger
-At the Four-Corners monument our children trying to see who could be in all four states at once.
-Looking out of the back of our van before the sun rises and seeing a herd of pronghorns grazing on the campground’s grass
- Climbing to the top of Mt Marcy on Jan 1st when the snow devils are dancing around you.
- The expression on your spouse’s face on your wedding day.
- The expression on a child’s face when it gets a diploma
-Your first visit to Muir Woods - when the trees go up, and up, and up, and get lost in the clouds
-Your first view of Glacier Point or El Capitan from below them.
- A visit to the Statue of Liberty
- Standing in front of your tent and watching the FireFall from Glacier Point.
- Getting off a troop ship here in the U.S.
- The look on a child’s face when he or she gets married. 
- Your first flight in an airplane.
- Having a doctor say “he/she/you is/are all right.”
- Watching a movie such as Roman Holiday - but where the princess shows up to marry the pauper.
- Receiving a card/letter from a friend you haven’t heard from in years, whom you feared was dead.
- Reading a pleasant book where the characters are nice, no one gets killed, and all is well at the end of the book.
- Working at a significant job which will improve something or someone, or otherwise be of value. And having your efforts recognized. (You know about the opposite side of this.)
- Having the sky be clear when there’s a meteor shower, or an eclipse of the moon. 
- Your significant other, or other family member showing up when you weren’t expecting to see him/her.

Bob Levy

Our Books:
The Anecdotal History of the Levy(n) McConnell Families
Two Loves Have I (Mountains in NY State and our Family) 
How We Spent our Summer Vacation (better known as JBL-1957)
Three Years - Two Months - Twenty-two Days (my time in the Army)

The preceding books are all available from Lulu.com Well - The Anec History is strictly a family book. Maybe I should release it for general access. 
 
Grandpa Was a Plumber  (the story off one side of Louise’s family)
Journals of a Cortland County Farmer (the story of the other side)  

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