Article January 16, 2012 Issue

Pure joy

By Kevin Graunke

It’s such an extraordinary subject—joy. What defines and delineates it? Where should I begin in appreciating it in all its diversity and depth? 

And then . . . a cassette tape from years ago surfaces in a credenza drawer. My wife pops it into the cassette player. It’s from an early morning, near Christmastime, and the two of us are talking with our then one-year-old daughter.

As I listen, she’s pointing to objects in the room and in a book, saying what they are. Lots of laughter; lots of pure joy—both on the tape, and from us as we sit at the breakfast table, hearing this nearly forgotten treasure! 

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