The early days of motherhood. We lived in a sweet little bungalow in LA that had a pool. We threw lots of parties. We had a cute dog and a mad Siamese. Trump had never been president, we’d never heard of coronavirus, Claire’s Accessories was still going strong. Good times.
When were you happiest?
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
There are different flavours of happy, but I think my favourite is the quiet contentment when several generations of family are sitting together watching a crowd-pleaser like Harry Potter on the telly.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 February 2022 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Gino D'Acampo
Italian-British celebrity chef and media personality
I am always very happy in Sardinia with my family; I spend at least six months of the year there. Six months working and six months relaxing – I think that is a great balance.
Marilyn Manson
American musician
About 15 minutes ago: I'm on medication and it's starting to wear off.
Richard Feynman
Theoretical physicist; Nobel laureate in Physics, 1965
It's made me a very happy man ever since.
More from Lauren Laverne
View profile →My biggest disappointment is always myself. That’s my Catholic upbringing.
I wanted to be like my dad, who was an academic, because he had an office packed full of books, always had loud music on, and seemed to get to do what he wanted.
A caravan. I was brought up going on caravan holidays – but we quickly realised that a double-axle caravan was too much of a commitment and sold it.
The Strictly Come Dancing final almost destroyed me. I was howling all the way through – John and Johannes and then Rose and Giovanni. Oh my God.
It would have been lovely to have grown up in private like a lot of my friends.
I’d rather be enjoyed while I am still here.
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