"Research has shown that the best way to be happy is to make each day happy."
When Julie and I arrived in Nashville, our effervescent granddaughter Emma greeted us in the lobby of the airport-close Red Roof Inn.
Emma's daddy Laszlo soon joined us.
Son Jay and his girlfriend Sasha arrived on our flight, but they celebrated their October birthdays with a night on the town and a penthouse suite at a downtown hotel. They wouldn't be joining us until the next afternoon, after Jay concluded meeting with Universal Music's Nashville division, which was his reason for going to Nashville and the genesis of this family reunion.
Emma's mommy Gina, however arrived in the morning. Gina, Laszlo, Emma, Julie and I drove our Thrifty Rental Car to President Andrew Jackson's estate, where they're currently celebrating his 250th birthday. That hasn't garnered as much attention as Central Europe's feting of Maria Theresa's 300th birthday, which we had recently experienced on our Danube River cruise.
In order to take time off school, Emma's teacher had been promised Emma would experience some historical places, and the home of Jackson, an outsider President to whom Donald Trump has been compared both favorably and unfavorably by some pundits, made a logical first stop.
I had just finished reading a novel, The Jefferson Code, which included passages about the factual failed assassination attempt on President Jackson as part of a presumably fictional multi-generational conspiracy by pirates, so once again I found that my reality bent to touch on something I had been thinking about.The second place Laszlo had told Emma's teacher she would visit was the full sized replica of the Parthenon, as it appeared at the time it was completed.
That wasn't a big surprise to my subconscious mind, because another book I had recently read was The Day Democracy Died, a very interesting historical story about the greatest naval victory in the history of Athens which turned to disaster for the generals due to mob mentality.
Emma, however, was most excited about swing benches near the large lake of Millennial Park beside the Parthenon, and she wasn't all that eager to see the gigantic statue of Athena or the museum pieces inside the Parthenon.
You may wonder how a full scale model of the Parthenon came to be built in Nashville, of all places.
You may wonder how a full scale model of the Parthenon came to be built in Nashville, of all places.
Millennial Park had been completed in 1897, to celebrate 100 years of Tennessee statehood, and as with other turn of the century era celebrations, Nashville wanted to not only celebrate modern technologies but to pay homage to history, in this case the most famous structure from the birthplace of democracy, ancient Athens.
As I've mentioned before, our son-in-law Laszlo's family immigrated from Slovakia, which historically was part of greater Hungary.
That type of serendipity seems to constantly unfold or me, beginning first thing in the morning when I do my crossword puzzle and find clues that reference something I had discussed or heard recently.
And it doesn't apply exclusively to trivia.
If we think about happiness, that is what we find at every turn, and I'm happy to say all my children have tied into life streams of positive synchronicity, too.
After taking time to find some fun in the beautiful park surrounding the Parthenon and touring that impressive replica, we headed over to the 4 bedroom house on the outskirts of Nashville which we had rented for the next four nights.
After taking time to find some fun in the beautiful park surrounding the Parthenon and touring that impressive replica, we headed over to the 4 bedroom house on the outskirts of Nashville which we had rented for the next four nights.
Like a song where other instruments gradually enter the arrangement as it moves forward, we were soon joined at the house by Jay and Sasha, and later that night, daughter Amy arrived from New York City.
What a wonderful houseful of happiness we had!
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