Getting To Happy

Not sure where I saw mention of Getting To Happy by Terry McMillan. Published in 2010, think I would have noticed the sequel to Waiting To Exhale. Towards the end of the novel, Hurricane Katrina wrecks havoc in New Orleans and a character thinks "Hundreds of thousands of people were now homeless, lost, dead or injured?" Yes, the sentence ended in a question mark, perhaps to indicate the woman's disbelief or shock at the news.

Having nothing to do with homelessness, was a mention of Welcome Back, Kotter, on one page and a Soul Train line, on the next. I think of Soul Train a whole lot more than Kotter, mainly because I watch You Tube videos, often old Soul Train clips.

Robert Hegyes who played the character Epstein on the Kotter show, died on January 26, 2012. My oldest sister (RIP) lived in Metuchen, New Jersey, where Hegyes lived, for many years. Her son, the schizophrenic still does. I lived there for a short time ~ maybe 3 months ~ with husband, brother and his wife, our babies, and my younger sister. We were evicted. The men and their drugs.

Almost a week later, Don Cornelius committed suicide on February 1, 2012.  Followed by Whitney Houston's death on February 11, 2012. And, yes, Getting To Happy mentions Whitney. The characters were discussing a television show or news about Being Bobby Brown. One of the characters said wondered when Whitney would wise up and kick Bobby to the curb and get her life back on track.

Because the four main characters in Getting To Happy, are contemporary black women, the mentions are not unusual. Whenever McMillan began writing the novel, she would have no inkling what the future held in store for Cornelius and Houston. Same is true of all our lives.

A character in the book asks a date: "How do you measure happiness?"

His answer begins, "It is a feeling of calm that comes from inside."

Of course this got me to thinking how I measure happiness.

Enjoyed reading Getting To Happy, even though it is about romance ~ mostly ~ and I no longer read romance type books. Maybe that is how I missed Getting To Happy. : ?