What was your best day?

[ckissick]

The "A guy's perfect day" thread got me to thinking. What, in reality, has been the best day of your life?

Before getting married, my now-wife asked that question. My reply, "January 10, 1982. The Catch, Montana to Clark." She married me anyway.

What's your best day ever? (Besides the obligatory kid being born.)

[Zef]

The day I become a Dad...

[dhoward]

The day I understood what reading comprehension meant

[Rich76_911s]

The best day of my life so far has to be Valentines day 2003. I was skiing Silverton Mountain with my Dad and a couple of our close friends. 18 inches of fresh powder, the sun was shining, everyone was smiling. We even had a really good looking and more importantly great skiing girl as a guide that day, guides are required there. Have a couple other great ones in mind but that one sticks out the most. Can't wait to spend the rest of my life trying to top it. Hopefully I can do a repeat in the future with me as the Dad.

BTW you just made my day by making me think about this.

Thanks
Rich

[Burnin' oil]

Originally Posted by dhoward

The day I understood what reading comprehension meant

SNAP!

[sammyg2]

The morning after my first date with a girl who would eventually become my wife.
Walking on clowds does not cover it.
Felt so good with so many emotions I was a basketcase, I knew that morning that I would marry her and I did.

[Rot 911]

I don't have a best day per se, but I do have a best summer, best fall, etc. Times that when I am having a beer it is just fun to day dream about.

[pwd72s]

Every day is a best day. Just try missing one.

[Komenda Fan]

That's easy...waiting 18 years for a 911, and finally handing over the cheque and driving away in one...

My ex-wife agreeing to a separation was right up there to...

[gr8fl4porsche]

Tomorrow - always tomorrow.

[Nathans_Dad]

So far I would have to say either the birth of my son (our first) or the recent birth of our daughter (our third).

This last one was very emotional because there was a possibility of Down's syndrome or other chromosomal issue based on the ultrasound. We elected to not have a amnio since we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy anyway. When she came out completely perfect the release of stress and flood of emotion was just overwhelming...

[MRM]

My best days are when something like "the Catch" happens and I am enveloped in an overwhelming sense of perfection, satisfaction, achievement, and joy.

My best day as a professional came in the spring of 2001. I was working for an in-house law firm and had been assigned the defense of a complex products liability suit. The plaintiff was a corporation that was represented by a large firm with the usual number of lawyers, legal assistants and secretaries assigned to the case. To make matters worse, we were in Federal Court and I am much more comfortable and experienced in state court.

The case had a strange theory of liability that I knew should be beat but was just odd enough to be hard to defend. There was a lot of money at stake. The other side was making my life miserable, crushing me with their resources. The more they bore down on me the more I strategized. I went over my game plan relentlessly to the extent that I came down with eczema. The doc asked me if I was under any stress. I looked him in the eye and said "I'm six weeks out from trial in the biggest case of my life. The oposing counsel is one of the state's biggest law firms in Federal Court. They are doing everything they can to bury me"

The doc smiled gently and asked how old I was. Odd, I thought, but I told him. He smiled again and asked how many years I went to school. I thought it was even odder, but I added it up and told him. Then he asked how many years I had been a lawyer. I thought he was really getting away from the subject, but I added it up and told him. He smiled like I had just explained the answer to something complex and said "You'll be fine. You're ready". I looked at him blankly. I certainly wasn't ready, I had six weeks to trial and there was no way he could know if I was going to be fine, but he seemed certain. Seeing the expression on my face he went on, "You've trained for this for a long time. You're a professional. This is what you do. You're ready. You'll be fine." I looked back blankly for a few seconds and realized he was right. When I smiled back at him I was ready. The eczema went away like magic. It never came back.

We went to trial with a full 12 member jury in Federal District Court. Nine days in trial, spread out over three weeks. Hundreds of exhibits in three ring binders, a dozen or so live witnesses, more witnesses by deposition, motions, arguments, gameplaying and two experienced federal court lawyers battling me every step of the way, backed by paralegals who wheeled their carts in every day, laughing as I lugged two carboard boxes with my trial notes and the day's exhibits back and forth with me.

Their case went in smooth as silk. Every witness was so prepared they sounded like recordings, courtesy of the army of lawyers who were backing the trial lawyers. I had to do my own witness prep on nights and weekends, and I had to keep my other cases from going out of control, so my witnesses were considerably rougher. But we got our evidence in and told our side of the story, even if it wasn't pretty. I got bloodier by the day but consoled myself with the thought that even if I was getting bloody doing it, I was focusing on the elements of the case and that the evidence seemed to me like it was going in the way I planned. It was very much like the Country Mouse versus the City Mouse.

When testimony finally ended the judge told us we would start promptly the next morning with final arguments. I was first. I hadn't written a thing. I had the sense that even though the other side's case had gone in smoother, that the evidence really favored my side and the jury would do the right thing if I could bring all the testimony together the right way. We would have an hour to talk before the judge pulled my plug. I went back to my office, answered the letters that were urgent, went home and had supper. At exactly 8 pm I sat down at my computer to write my final argument.

I had too many thoughts and emotions to organize anything. Everything I wanted to say was bursting to get out, but I couldn't figure out how to present it in a way that anyone could understand. After floundering for a couple hours I decided the only way to get anything down was to just start typing anything that came into my head and to organize it later. I spewed words at the computer, remembered things, went back, saw that one point flowed into the other, cut and pasted and wrote more until I ran dry. At about 1 am I was satisfied I had written the final argument I wanted. I was too punchy to edit it any more so I saved the file to a disk twice (no internet connection and no printer at home), set my alarm for 5 am and went to sleep. The next morning I did the final edit, was pleased to see I hadd been more coherent than I thought, ran through the whole thing a couple of times for practice, and headed off to court.

I put everything I had into my final argument. It went as planned. Writing it out word for word and practicing paid off. I didn't need to read it like a script. I extemorized, often coming up with better phrasing and way to pull the arguments together, and always had the script to fall back on. The jury seemed receptive. The other side gave a well polished argument, devoid of emotion. I was hopeful because I thought the other side was focusing too much on making a smooth, technically expert presentation and weren't focusing enough on proving the elements of their case. That's where I concentrated my efforts.

The year before my wife had gone to Paris for business and I tagged along. We brought back two bottles of good Champagne. Making conversation with the judges clerk I told her that we had been saving them for a special occasion and that if the jury came back for my client we would open one. The judge dismissed us at about 3 pm on a Friday.

I went back to the office, cleared some paperwork and drove home. I pulled into the garage about 4:30. My wife rushed out to tell me the clerk had called and thrust the phone in my hands. The first words out of the clerk's mouth were "Mike, do you have the Champagne ready?". All I could do was gasp "No!". She informed me that the jury found for my client. Not only had the jury found my client was not negligent at all, but they found the plaintiff had not sustained any damages. Either would have given my client the result they wanted. It was literally beyond my wildest dreams.

We did open the Champagne that night. It was the most satisfying feeling I felt as a professional. I said many, many prayers of thanks. I say them every time I remember the case.

[Tim Hancock]

Tough question that would require much thought to answer correctly, but winning the 250 c class regional qualifier for the AMA's national amateur championship was pretty cool as was the day I bought my first airplane and landed at an old college friend's airport for a night out partying. The day I first flew my 1st homebuilt airplane after 1.5 yrs of non-stop work is a definite canidate.

Multiple spring breaks in Daytona while attending college provided many good times allthough it would be hard to pick a particular day as they all involved lots of booze. Multiple ski trips with sorority girls also ranks pretty high on the fun meter.

Man the more I think about this, the harder it becomes to choose from the highlights of 41 years of life. At 41, most potential "best" days seem to come from my 18-30 yr old period. Of course marrying my wife was a great milestone in my life, but I can't honestly say that that "day" was the best.

[Seahawk]

Getting married, having kids all hold the top spots because they were shared moments. They can't be topped because I love them one and all.

But, My singular best moment, irrespective of anyone else, was having my WWII veteran Grandfather pin on my Ensign bars at my commissioning in 1983. He was a Navy Warrant Officer who saw action all across the Pacific. His brothers, both Navy Chiefs in WWII, were also there. They both fought across the Pacific as well, one in Destroyers, the other on PT boats. The hardtack Marine Drill Instructors couldn't believe a numb nuts like me had relations with men such as them.

The old f'ers were the reason I sought my commission in the first place.

Thanks, Supe, for reminding me of this.

[Tim Hancock]

That does indeed sound like a best day Seahawk! I bet you had to fight off a tear or two at that moment.

[Jeff Alton]

Originally Posted by dhoward

The day I understood what reading comprehension meant

Yep, and then every day after. I will never forget falling asleep in a chair in the delivery room (like a hotel room at the hospital we were in) with my new son asleep on my chest. He is 5 now, and he keeps that picture beside his bed....

Cheers

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

That does indeed sound like a best day Seahawk! I bet you had to fight off a tear or two at that moment.

You bet, and good thing I won the fight...those old Rat Ba$tard$ would have worn me out had a little liquid showed up

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Probably the day after my wedding day. The wedding day itself was too crazy and too much of a blur. The best thing was standing on the stern deck of a cruise ship setting out for our honeymoon, having just departed the port of Miami. I watched the setting sun framing the land slipping over the horizon and realizing that for the first time ever, I was there alone with my wife - it's the first time it really hit me what had happened. Great feeling.

[stealthn]

Wow Nathans Dad, I can picture that emotion, good story.


For me it was the day I was born, everything else would not have come otherwise

[VINMAN]

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always been a huge fan of Offshore Powerboat Racing. The biggest race was the Benihana race. Held in Point Pleasant NJ. Always went every year. The highlight of the race was when all of the raceboats came out at once out of the Manasquan inlet, before the start of the race. Probably 60-80 boats all flying out of there at speed, jumping the waves and catching huge air.Thousands of people lined up on the rocks on both sides of the inlet. I thought that that was the coolest thing in the world. Those guys where my idols. Lots of big names too, Rocky Aoki( owner of Behihana restaraunts) Don Johnson the actor. Few other big names. Of course that was my dream to be one of them.

Fast foward to 2002, I finally went out and bought myself a boat to race. Spent a year rebuilding it, lots of time and money. Headaches,etc, etc.. Ran it with my partner testing it. Worked out the kinks got it running good.

On Fri August 15. 2003, we headed up the Mansquan river for the start of the NJ Offshore 2003 Grand Prix race.(Formerly the Benihana Race). At about 11:45 at the beginning of the Inlet rocks I nailed the throttles foward , and with 40 other boats flew out the inlet.
As we where heading out I looked at the rocks on both sides, saw all those people lined up. I know I must have had the worlds biggest smile! I was actually choking up. I hit the intercom and told my driver (and my best friend)" Bro, do you we are actually fuchin doing this?" Im sure that he had just as big a smile on his face. That was the moment I dreamed about since I was 11 yrs old.

We ended up taking forth place. The following day. one of my other buds i race with, called me at 7 30 in the morning. He said "hey Vin I just picked up the Ocean Count Observer ( the big local paper down here). Theres and article about the race in it , and you aint gonna be to happy about it. it's not good."
I jumped in the car and shot over to the store I ran in to the newspapers and looked for it. I picked up a copy and found this picture on the front cover. I let out a yell that scared the crap out of everyone.
This only validated the previous day. Needless to say I bought every copy!