At times Marty made it sound too easy. On a visit to his home I heard him say, "People need to decide to be happy."
I pressed him. "What do you mean by that?" His face took on a skeptical look. "You have to ask me?" At that moment I felt a little foolish. Complex human problems, at least to me, often prevent people from being happy. To Marty it was a matter of common sense. I wondered, "What was I missing?" That night Marty told me a story that was very personal for him. I knew Marty and Mickey had four children. I didn't know there had been a fifth. She was their second child. She died shortly after birth.
"The funeral director was a super guy," Marty said. "He knew we didn't have any money, but he told us he would take care of our little girl. He went out and built a wood casket (小盒) for her. "
Marty's voice started to break. "He only charged us five dollars. It's stuff like that. You can look for the good in people and you'll find the good. You can look for the bad in people and you'll find the bad."
I didn't know what it was like to grow up poor. Marty's life was filled with minimum-wage jobs, borrowing on insurance policies, and working overtime to make a little more money.
In my lifetime I had seen people in similar circumstances grow angry. Bitterness took hold of their lives and choked them.
"I never had much money, and I don't think I ever will," Marty said. "People think they need to have a lot of things to make them happy. They ought to look around and see what's really important." When Marty looked around, he saw the most beautiful girl in the world as his wife, four children who loved him, a home he took pride in, and a job that made him feel alive. He was happy because, in his mind, he had it all.
