Let’s admit it. Summer is for kids. I love seeing kids being kids. Sometimes the simplest activity can make them so happy and so excited.

Adults are not much different - sitting still, doing nothing, a simple cocktail a the end of the day or sneaking in a nap at the end of the weekend - so happy, so excited.

Our Constitution has a message that promotes the pursuit of happiness. I think our happiness has to be self-contained and produced for ourselves, even by ourselves. Kind of like a submarine being self-sufficient.

There are so many things in the world that can upset you, from hearing something on the news or having someone cut you off in traffic. What I try to do is, instead of yelling or screaming, go back to a happy thought, whatever it is. It’s funny when you’re a child, happiness is Christmas time or birthdays...times when you’re getting stuff. When you get a little older, it’s meeting your girlfriend for the first time.

When my child was born, I was panicked, scared, nervous, confused, my whole life was changing. And there was nothing I could do about it. It ended up being a great moment. A few days ago, something happened that really upset me. But I went to my happy place. I thought of one day in my life that was really a happy day. I’d like to share that with you.

My son and I went to the zoo. Just him and I. It was the first time he ever wanted to get his face painted. So I said, let’s do it. So I’m walking around the zoo with a three-foot tall Spider-Man. Great day. On the way home, we started talking about trains. His friends had Thomas the Tank Engine. We never got into Thomas the Tank Engine, I personally couldn’t see spending that much money on a train that didn’t have an engine. So I said, “would you like to see real trains?” We drove to 30th Street Station.

We went down to the platform, we saw some trains come in, we saw some trains go out. (This was before 9-11.) Then we walked up to one train that wasn’t going out, it was just sitting there. I showed him that this was the front of the train, this was the engine, etc. The engineer was inside of the cab. He looked at us and said, “You guys want to come in?”

I took my son in, and we sat where the engineer sits at the head of the train, and he just thought that was the greatest thing. After that, we went to the McDonald’s at 30th Street Station, and then went home.

Sometimes, showing a little bit of kindness to someone goes a long way. I never sent that conductor a thank you letter, but I will always remember how happy my son was at that time. A funny thing about special moments, sometimes you don’t know they’ve happened until you think about them two or three (or ten) years later.

It’s summertime, so I’m going to tell all of you guys and girls to go out and find that special moment this month so that when hard times hit, you can always look back at that moment and put a big smile on your face.

Keep cool and hydrated, talk to you next month.

- Kevin S. Nash

Photo details: 2011 SHHH Walk for Hearing, Ridley Creek State Park, Media PA.