The Happiest Moments of People's Lives, Shared on Twitter

Imagine the happiest moment of your life. Maybe it was your wedding. Or the moment your child was born. Or the moment that child first smiled at you, or grasped your hand. Or maybe it was something else entirely -- that winning goal, that birthday party, that time you two ended up driving to the Grand Canyon just because. That sunrise. That openness. That laughter.

This Sunday, the tennis player Andy Murray experienced what had to be one of his own happiest moments when he won Wimbledon -- and he had, in that moment, a rare luxury: that moment was widely photographed. For Murray, happiness was at once fleeting and archived -- a passing feeling that, through the mechanism of the camera, can be framed, or used as an avatar, or otherwise kept for reference and/or nostalgia. And for sports podcaster Steven Bennett, that moment came as he celebrated with his brother after that brother helped to win the NCAA hockey championship.* Which prompted Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch to ask a question:

How many of you have a photograph of the single best moment of your life? If so, what a gift. (HT: @sports_casters for thought).

-- Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 9, 2013

The responses were pretty amazing -- testaments not only to Twitter's power as a platform for sharing, but also to cameras' increasing ubiquity in our lives. We may plan to take pictures at weddings, or during proposals, or after the births of babies; many of life's happiest moments, however, are unexpected and random and weird. The fact that more of us are regularly carrying cameras around with us means that we are newly able to capture those moments -- to make the ephemeral newly permanent. And, then, shareable with Sports Illustrated writers. 

Here are some of the responses to Deitsch's question; for more along these lines, see the Storify created by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Matthew Hall.

@richarddeitsch Easy.. After 5+ years of infertility meeting our awesome (adopted) daughter. Cc: @Sports_Casters pic.twitter.com/Riyl8i7gDa

-- Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters Yup - one year ago today. pic.twitter.com/jZr4Ota8tm

-- David Seawright (@DavidSeawright) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch the first day I became a dad. Properly adorned with UM gear... pic.twitter.com/kiDhvll6Zo

-- Scott Turken (@Turk0219) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters Hired a photographer in Paris to snap photos of my proposal pic.twitter.com/TEnM91DNCY

-- Ben Walnick (@Wx_Ben) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters When I had my first grilled cheese pic.twitter.com/z1adfUuhMP

-- Andrew Clifford (@QuesoRaton12) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch The day I met my wife. Matching T-shirts obviously unplanned (by us anyway). pic.twitter.com/O5JcDtp5vt

-- David Dorsey (@DavidADorsey) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch This is close. My Grandfather who was a POW in WWII meeting his namesake. pic.twitter.com/hafI9F3lU2

-- Charles James (@Charles_James1) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters Best moment so far was college graduation--made all the hard work worth it. pic.twitter.com/EYDXfJnwce

-- Makayla (@mhipke) July 9, 2013

.@richarddeitsch @sports_casters @cubs At Wrigley with my Dad, circa 1974 pic.twitter.com/mZhy61WYG2

-- Garrett Gosselink (@GGosselink) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch This was taken literally at that moment. It's all in the eyes. Holding my 1st born for the 1st time. pic.twitter.com/vWgFEV5gsX

-- jeremiah cox (@jeremiahcox) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters Four-way tie: the day my daughter met her new brother for the first time. pic.twitter.com/1QJ9fmXHmf

-- Joe Zavala (@ADTsports) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters At the Super Bowl with my dad, six weeks before he passed away from leukemia. pic.twitter.com/9mep7kGH1n

-- Andrew Rutberg (@AndrewRutberg) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch Nice aquarium tour ending with a proposal in the shark tank. pic.twitter.com/olRxd2UTUY

-- Drew (@CtownDawgPound) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @Sports_Casters waking up from my liver transplant to watch the giants win the Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/NMFvqXTgpv

-- Jer Rutman (@jrutman) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch My nephew was born a week before my grandfather died. I took one pic of all 4 generations together. http://t.co/x5jLOiFWG4

-- JP Kirby (@the506) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch @sports_casters the night I skipped homework to spend time with my Grammy, one of my last times pic.twitter.com/6o8n2l8fLA

-- Joann Villanueva (@joannmarieee) July 9, 2013

@richarddeitsch I came home from Iraq (2nd tour) and got to hug my mom! pic.twitter.com/OuQJSd4ms9

-- Ken (@TheKenChin) July 9, 2013

*I added this sentence after publishing to make clear where Deitsch first got the idea for his question. Thanks to Mike Hayes for the tip.