If You Want to Be Happy, Be Happy

I met a man when I was working in construction it was about 65 years old and really seemed to enjoy life. I asked him, what his secret was, what was it that made him so happy and seemed to love life effortlessly. He stopped working and thought for a second and asked me if I had time for a story about a choice he made, a long time ago when he was about my age. Of course I replied.
He started to tell me about his childhood and the difficulties of growing up with two alcoholic parents. He made it pretty clear point to me about the abuse that took place in the home and it wasn't just physical it was mental abuse also. He had four brothers and five sisters and they lived in a two bedroom house with one bathroom. There wasn't enough food, most of the time to make the meal for the family and there were more days, that he went without food than you could possibly ever imagine.
His mom and dad chose to buy alcohol instead of groceries. This was just the way it was, he explained to me in a very simple and forgiving tone. I loved my mom and dad, he said to me, a little out of character at this point in our conversation but watching them, night after night drink themselves to oblivion, you finish the story in the comment area,