of very different things one of the
things that we spoken about is the
difference between taxis and Thailand he
explained to me the green and yellow
taxis are owned and the pink ones can be
rented out on a daily basis something
usually don’t see in the US the memory
that I just recounted may not seem very
important to you but it was a very
memorable moment with my father another
thing that my father and I have
discussed is Metropolitan Opera over the
past three years he and I have seen
three different operas in each one has
been great again the memory that I just
shared with you may not seem very
important to you but it was a very
memorable moment with my father and my
dad is working 70 hour weeks managing
dozens of teams of lawyers and somehow
he still manages half time for me isn’t
that crazy some other things that my
father and I speak about our history in
politics World War two it was a horrible
and bloody war if you wanted to fit all
the casualties of World War two into NRG
Stadium where the Super Bowl was
recently played there would have to be
another 820 energy stadiums built can
you imagine that 821 super-sized
stadiums filled with casualties my great
grandpa died in that war my grandfather
was only four on his father died as a
result they spent no time together but
little did he know when my
great-grandfather died that he was
setting a benchmark for fathers and sons
in our family to make sure to spend
quality time together as a result my
grandfather and father spent a lot of
quality time together and they still do
and now my father is carrying on the
legacy and spending a lot of quality
time with me in 1974 here we Chapin
released a song called cat’s in the
cradle and that same year when it was
released he was a top 100 billboard song
what I knew in my family was sis to it
it makes them cry the song is about a
dad who works too hard and as a result
has no time for his son the legacy
continues when the Sun comes back from
college and has no time for his father
I want you to imagine this card right
here what is this the Jack of Hearts I
want you to imagine this card is your
closest family member or that’s your mom
your dad your brother your sister
anybody in your family and I want you to
imagine that they disappear in an
instant thank you there’s also a book by
Michael Cunningham called the hours and
there’s this one character in the hours
whose name is Richard and he’s a young
man who remembers a moment when he was
young and happy and he describes how he
felt in that moment and he says so this
is the beginning of happiness this is
where it starts and of course there will
always be more never had it occurred to
me it wasn’t the beginning it was
happiness it was the moment right then
the idea that Richard is trying to
convey is the way if to embrace the
moment we cannot ignore and look to the
future we cannot think that we are on
the brink of happiness if you realize
this is the happiness for instance as i
said earlier i go to the met a lot and
when i go to the met I need to be in the
moment I need to listen to the music and
think this is the happiness not anything
that comes after I need to do that right
now how cool is it to be up here
standing in front of all of you I’m a
seventh grader and i’m doing a TED talk
what comes later today or even next year
is not important right now I need to
think about the crowd the lights my
family watching this is not the
beginning of happiness this is the
happiness thank you [Applause]