The Secret of Happiness

The Secret of Happiness
by Steve Brunkhorst, © Copyright 2004


The old man shuffled slowly into the restaurant. With head tilted, and shoulders bent forward, he leaned on his trusty cane with each unhurried step.

His tattered cloth jacket, patched trousers, worn out shoes, and warm personality made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Unforgettable were his pale blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds, large rosy cheeks, and thin lips held in a tight, steady smile.

He stopped, turned with his whole body, and winked at a little girl seated by the door. She flashed a big grin right back at him. A young waitress named Mary watched him shuffle toward a table by the window.

Mary ran over to him, and said, "Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair."

Without saying a word, he smiled and nodded a thank you. She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she scooted the table up close to him, and leaned his cane against the table where he could reach it.

In a soft, clear voice he said, "Thank you, Miss. And bless you for your kind gestures."

"You're welcome, Sir." She replied. "And my name is Mary. I'll be back in a moment, and if you need anything at all in the mean time, just wave at me!"

After he had finished a hearty meal of pancakes, bacon, and hot lemon tea, Mary brought him the change from his ticket. He left it lay. She helped him up from his chair, and out from behind the table. She handed him his cane, and walked with him to the front door.

Holding the door open for him, she said, "Come back and see us, Sir!"

He turned with his whole body, winked a smile, and nodded a thank you. "You are very kind." he said softly.

When Mary went to clean his table, she almost fainted. Under his plate she found a business card, and a note scribbled on a napkin. Under the napkin was a one hundred dollar bill.

The note on the napkin read...
"Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness.
Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you."

The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees had ever seen him in person.

Note:
This story is based on actual events experienced by a friend from St. Paul, Minnesota. The note is the exact wording on the napkin that she has kept in her scrap book for fifteen years.

a reason to photograph

this morning, i've came across a <a href=http://rangefinderfilipinas.com/forums/index.php?topic=3170>post</a> on RFilipinas forums, which made me think and rethink my reasons for taking pictures...  i have been doing this since 2007 when i got hooked with lomo and until i found the better place to be and to learn...

what is it really? why am i doing this?

for years, i've relied on my memories to treasure moments in my life... i never had a concrete memory of my childhood... my family... my father... all of them are just in the mind... but people grow old.. they tend to forget things.. and memories, no matter how great they were... i want something i could see, touch, and feel... something to make me remember and re-live those precious moments...

most of the photographs i've had are pictures during recognition and graduation excercises.. the only time we are able to get our pictures taken, aside from the mandatory ID pictures..

my friends and classmates may have had pictures of me, which may find its way on <a href=http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/photo.php?pid=1350062&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=613134671&id=750929102>facebook</a> from time to time.. but most of our family pictures and albums were destroyed by typhoons...

sadly, the only memories of my family and my father i have on print were those taken at his funeral..  

and i don't want that for my family and my son.. that is why i take snaps of his life.. of my family's journey... and it is my goal starting this year to take at least one picture of my son each day... if i missed taking one on film.. my trusty Nikon D40 or even my Nokia N82 would be enough to freeze a moment each day in his life...



they may not be good enough technically and mean nothing to the world but it speaks a lot for me and my family...

aside from the fact that i've always wanted a camera for my own since childhood and the fact that i love taking pictures... these are my most compelling reason to take photographs... and for me.. it is more than enough reason...

and for that primary reason, i believe i don't need fance gadgets and whatnot's.. they belong to the want category unless i decide to earn from this hobby... but for now, the camera's at home are more than enough...

Save the best for last...

I got this from a forwarded mail and the message is just to good not to be shared with everyone I know.



A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

"This," he said, "isn't any ordinary package."

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

"She got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on, was saving it for a special occasion."

Well, I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said:

"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion."

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less.
I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything...
I use crystal glasses every day...
I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.
I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my dictionary. If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now.

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.
I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends. She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.
I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food. It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special. Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one.

If you got this, it's because someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.

If you're too busy to send this out to other people and you say to yourself that you will send it "One of these days."
Remember that "One day" is far away... or might never come...

No matter if you're superstitious or not, spend some time reading it.
It holds useful messages for the soul.