# What were the happiest years of your life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998 "2012-09-17T19:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/41 "2012-09-19T22:08:23Z")
Most of them were pretty awesome in their own way. Although I think my favorite years were the first couple years after college. I was still in touch with many of my high school and college friends. We were all starting our careers so we had extra money for the first time. First time living on my own in a big city (Boston). Exciting “just becomming an adult” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/42 "2012-09-19T22:25:05Z")
From Ohio, 41, now living in LA: Right now. Happily remarried, back in school, pursuing my dreams. Life is good. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/43 "2012-09-19T23:22:54Z")
35 years old. The past couple have been pretty good - lots of travel, decent expendable income, general good times. Things can definitely improve by a wide margin, but they’ve been a good couple of years so I can’t complain. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/44 "2012-09-20T12:52:35Z")
Female, 27, lived first half of her life in Russia and second half in the USA. The last three years, ever since getting out of graduate school, have been wonderful. I am doing what I love, living with a person whom I love, and in a place that I love. The love, it almost burns! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/45 "2012-09-20T13:36:22Z")
Female, 35 My college years were amazing. I loved being out of high school and took some really great courses. I loved the intellectual stimulation. The past few years have also been pretty great. We went on an awesome vacation in the fall of '09. Our daughter was born exactly a year later, and the time since has been wonderful. Sure, there have been some tough times, but overall I’ve been very happy. The past year, especially. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/46 "2012-09-20T13:45:37Z")
My best years haven’t come yet, but they will. They will. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/47 "2012-09-20T14:27:44Z")
I’m 33 and…my best years may well be right now. Seems strange because I’m not in a relationship or anything, but I feel like I “know myself” better than ever, and a lot of things in my life are improving/moving forward at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/48 "2012-09-20T14:36:11Z")
In the context of my life so far (57 and counting), the last 10 years. The time before my wife was time wasted. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/49 "2012-09-20T14:58:12Z")
> [@Waxwinged](#): > > Female, 27, lived first half of her life in Russia and second half in the USA. If you were old enough to have really participated in the Russian lifestyle and system before you left, a thread discussing the dichotomy between that and the U.S. would make for a very interesting thread. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/50 "2012-09-20T15:53:56Z")
Male 51. Born in Chicago, grew up in the Illinois country side. High school until I was 32yo in Denver. Had a hell of a lot of fun in my 20’s. Lots of unrequited love though and that sucked. I found my own slice of heaven when I got my own place in the mountains at 32 (about 100 miles west of Denver). I still live in the same house. Quite remote and backs up to National Forest. I ALWAYS look forward to going home. Sometimes that’s the best part of a vacation for me. [Sunset from my deck](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r148/enipla/IMG_0503.jpg) [Walking the dogs behind the house](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r148/enipla/IMG_0598-1.jpg) The last few years have been great. Wife and I are happy, and I reconnected to one of my oldest and dearest friends (never thought I would see her again). And I’m learning to play the banjo! Never lose the ability to surprise yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/51 "2012-09-20T19:04:30Z")
I’m 45, going on 46. The happiest years of my life were 2001 - 2007. Good job, good colleagues, good life. I had an unhappy childhood and was in constant poor health until my early 30s. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/52 "2012-09-21T02:51:28Z")
From the early 1980s to the early 1990s. I loved the intellectual stimulation and connection to the wider world I found at university, studied in China and met my future wife there (a fellow 外国学生), lived in Japan, travelled in South America, then wound up in Seattle just in time for the grunge explosion. Male, mid-50s. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/53 "2012-09-21T05:13:39Z")
I suppose this may seem strange to folks but for me they were the years before I turned five. I remember very little, almost nothing really, but I have been told that I was a happy, inquisitive and mischievous kid who loved life and made others laugh. I lived in Lima, Perú, with my aunt and grandmother. They loved me dearly - in a way that my father and his next two wives never did. I left Perú at age 5 to go live with him and his second wife. I have seen many photos of that time period and I do believe that this had to have been the happiest time in my life. Sometimes when I look at them, a tiny spark of a memory surfaces. It makes me smile in a bitter-sweet way. I wonder if the reason that I have not returned to Perú for many many years, is because I’m afraid that if I did, I wouldn’t want to come back. My boyfriends’ dad loves a particular pic of me from when I was four so much that he framed it and has it sitting on a side table in his living room. I wish I could upload it here. I can’t figure out how to do it. Do you need to be a member? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/54 "2012-09-21T06:28:05Z")
You can’t upload photos here but you can upload them elsewhere and link to them from here. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/55 "2012-09-21T06:43:43Z")
Today! 😃 I’m 27 and was born and raised in the US. I have lived in two different East Coast states and spent much of what I consider my formative years in the Midwest. 19-23 was pretty good, but now is better. 24-26 was awful (trapped in a bad financial/living situation, in a disintegrating serious relationship). Childhood and teens sucked ass. I loathed school and my family situation was pretty bad. Life didn’t really start until I moved out at 18. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/56 "2012-09-21T21:35:00Z")
Christ, this is depressing, but I’m going to have to vote “none of the above”. 49 year old clinically depressed female from Chicago checking in. My traditional New Year’s toast is “Here’s hoping this year doesn’t suck as much as last year.” But it always does. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/57 "2012-09-21T22:36:36Z")
For me it was around 1983-1985. I was in college and had joined a gaming club, and within that a group consisting of people who are still good friends to this day (including one I married!) The year from '83-'84 especially was really intense–as an introvert I never had the experience of having a bunch of friends, and it was very nice (they were all introvert nerds too, so it wasn’t a shock to my system). I’m pretty happy now and have been most of my life, but if I had to pick a particular era, that would be it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/58 "2012-09-21T23:52:23Z")
Late 60s-Early 70s. As a young boy, Mom, Dad my little brothers, sister & I lived in the upstairs flat, Grandma, Grandpa, Granny (Great-Grandmother) Poppa (Great-Grandfather) lived downstairs, & we rented from them, later buying the building. Home, security, extended family. Love. Books, oh lots of books. Drake Avenue in Chicago was a great place to live, back then. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/59 "2012-09-22T00:22:44Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > (they were all introvert nerds too, so it wasn’t a shock to my system). And at any rate, you have a high Con score 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998/60 "2012-09-22T01:11:47Z")
Late teens, early twenties. Smoking tons of weed, drinking like a fish, racing around in fast cars and motorcycles, hot girlfriend, great (or so I thought at the time) music…all turned to shit in my late twenties. Then I got divorced and all was sunny again for a while… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-happiest-years-of-your-life/634998.md?page=4)