In my early twenties I was working at Orly airport, as a ground hostess for “Olympic Airways” owned by Onassis. I spoke some Greek at that time, and sometimes seeing the big boss pass by with the famous Maria Callas to catch a flight, I was wondering to myself, is he happy? is she happy? I was in search of the pursuit of happiness.
I would look at the titles in the Paris newspaper stands, and I remember them vividly: “The 21st century will be religious or won’t be,” “We are in the age of Aquarius,” and “Nostradamus predictions.” Among the other titles of everyday politics, those headlines were catching my eyes and I was wondering what this all means and wanted prove that God exists.
Shortly afterwards, arriving in Milano, Italy and continuing my search I met a group called in 1970 the “Unified Family.” I found what I was looking for.
In the Introduction of the Divine Principle, the text revelation received by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the first sentence said: “Everyone is struggling to attain happiness and avoid misfortune.” As I continued reading, it felt like the words were jumping out of the page into my heart with such deep meaning and emotions. I had finally found what I was looking for. I did some dancing for joy in the streets of Milano and then the streets of Paris.
A year earlier my husband to be had a similar experience in Vienna, reading that all men want to find happiness: “Everyone without exception is struggling to find happiness.” The Divine Principle is a vision, a guide that offers hope to those who wants to find the essence of life and live righteously. We were studying the same book before we met and for both of us these teachings were the best influence in our life.
When we met in America, we knew very well the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
There are no coincidences. In these 250 years celebration let’s celebrate One Nation under God.
An inspiring talk on the 250 years of the nation was given by Dr. Frank Kaufmann at the Settlement Project Conference in Columbus, OH, July 18, 2026. You can read his speech here: The 250-Year Milestone.