Today, just a few minutes after noon, my cellphone rang. It was my cousin Melissa. She never calls me during the workday, and so immediately, my throat tensed. I picked up the phone and gave a tentative, strained “hello,” expecting that she was calling to say that her mother was in the hospital, or that her aunt and partner had had some terrible accident on their trip across country.

My fears washed away as soon as I heard her voice. She sounded positively upbeat.

“I am having the loveliest day, and I thought you’d like to know! I just had a doctor’s appointment, and now I’m at the Santa Monica farmers’ market, eating a white chocolate and raspberry scone. I wish you were here, because you would just love all the beautiful food.”

She was simply calling to, as she put it, “share her happy.” She just wanted to tell me that the weather was perfect, she felt good and that she was eating something delicious. That was the sole point of the call, and it helped to lift me out of my cold medication fog, and for a second, I felt like I was there with her, two blocks from the beach.

I love being this person. The person that people call when they are happy or when they’re in love or they’ve just seen a really amazing flower. The person who can be counted on to readily jump in and share the joy they are experiencing. Who will absolutely validate that having one really excellent moment is worth celebrating. If I could find a way to make this what I did with my life, I would do it in a heartbeat.