I relearned a lesson this weekend that I have had to relearn repeatedly - that family and the simple things are the keys to true happiness. My daughter and son in law came up from New York City and joined me on a climb up a small mountain near where I grew up. I was very touched that they wanted to make the climb with me. I was attempting to redeem my pride because I climbed the same mountain back in June and it was a lot more difficult physically than it should have been. I vowed to get back in shape and reclimb the mountain this year. When my daughter heard I was doing this she enthusiastically joined in. As we were making the climb I reflected on how perfect a day it was - hiking through the New Hampshire woods on a crisp autumn afternoon. I really cherished the time together with my daughter and son in law away from other distractions. The views were fantastic and we took the time to stop and enjoy them when each new panorama presented itself. I found myself just looking around while we hiked and feeling like this was exactly the perfect place to be at that time. When we reached the top of the mountain the wind was howling and the temperature dropped but we relished the accomplishment (after finding a place to rest out of the wind). Strangely the trip back down the mountain seemed longer than the trip up, albeit much easier. I think, in part, this was because we were heading towards the end of what had been very fun, bonding moments. In today's very busy day to day life, an opportunity to spend an entire afternoon doing something you love with people you love is truly memorable. It will remain one of my "perfect day" memories to the day I die.
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