PP Arnold: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? — FLAPSS

The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

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.

PA

PP Arnold

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Escaping an abusive teen marriage and being blessed with the opportunity to create a new life for myself and my two young children in London at the height of the swinging 60s.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

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Every time one of my kids was born and I knew that they were healthy.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 January 2016 source ↗

Probably during my childhood growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, December 2021 source ↗

Douglas Stuart Scottish fashion designer and novelist

The summer of 1997. My husband, who is an American, gave up everything to come and live with me in Edinburgh when we were students, and we were so skint but we had so much fun.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 April 2023 source ↗

Paul Hollywood English baker and chef

In Cyprus between 1994 and 1999. I was baking out there, the weather was fantastic, it was a great place to be and I met my wife Alex.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 April 2014 source ↗

More from PP Arnold

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Question How would you sum yourself up in three words? Identity & self

Loving, sincere, honest.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

Oprah Winfrey, as Maya Angelou and Tina Turner are no longer with us. These women are Afro-American queens who, despite growing up in the racist south experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse, rose to the top of their professions and are an inspiration to women everywhere.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

To live your best life every day, because tomorrow isn’t promised.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

At this time in my life, I quite like myself but, for a large portion of my life, I deplored being shy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Question What is the worst job you have ever had? Craft & work

I worked in a Helms Bakery assembly line that separated egg whites from the yolks and from time to time a box of rotten eggs would come through. Need I say more?

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Question What disappointment has stayed with you longest? Failure & regret

It has been in myself, for allowing individuals who I relied on to make important decisions in my life that left me alone to pick up the pieces.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

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