The key to happines

Alexandra from next door is wearing a light blue jacket and cleaning up the trash. She greets me with a beautifully made-up face. She always looks bright and happy. When I stand next to her, I feel happy too.

I met Alexandra, David's mother, at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn. Both of us were going for regular check-ups before giving birth. What started as a simple greeting turned into a friendship, and we ended up living on the same block.

Our babies were born close together: mine on December 18th, and David on December 23rd. For almost ten months, we met in the hospital halls. As immigrants, we talked about how to settle and live well in this distant land while we passed the long waiting hours at the hospital. The large woman from Poland and the small woman from Asia became close friends by the time December arrived.

For a while, I didn’t hear from her because I was busy raising my child. Then, by chance, I ran into her in front of my house. She had come to buy a large building at the end of our block, with 16 apartments and two stores attached.

When she first came to America, she worked as a live-in maid for a wealthy family for over ten years, saving every penny without spending anything. David’s father also worked for a long time in a metal factory and saved up. After they married, they combined their savings and bought this big house. Since they worked so hard for it, of course, they take great care of it. As I watched her sweep in front of the house, I couldn’t help but think of her past, how she lived, and how far she had come. When she worked as a maid, her white employers used to make her kneel and scrub the floors.

She and I met almost every day in the park while raising our children. We also worked together at the school for the kids. On hot summer days, she would freeze water in a container and give it to David. Her juice containers were so worn down that the labels were barely readable. She was incredibly frugal. Not only did they finish paying off their mortgage, but they also bought 52 acres of land in upstate New York and became wealthy. They now hunt deer on their land and make Kielbasa (Polish sausage) to share with the neighbors.

From her, I learned that the happiness we seek is not something given by our parents, husbands, or children. It is something we find through our own effort, and once we find it, happiness will hold on to us tightly.