Be a Clown

Judy was chief of staff in the Office and the Secretary of Defense. Her husband, Gary, was an executive at Fannie Mae. Now that they've retired from those positions, they're still actively employed if not gainfully employed. Judy and Gary Kopff are a couple of clowns.

According to an article in The Washington Post, Judy and Gary spent years struggling with infertility and finally recognized "their inability to be parent as an opportunity to help others." So Judy, dealing with her own disappointment, took a class on how to make balloon animals, taking her new-found skills into the SecDef office and offering balloon hats to honorees at various office functions.

According to the article, Judy was wearing a three-foot tall balloon hat she had made when:

"Secretary Rumsfeld came out, and he saw me [wearing the hat] and kind of did a double take.... I said: 'Very nice to meet you again. Would you like my hat?' ...He looked at me with this big smile and said, 'I think I'll pass.'"

Judy eventually bought a clown suit and began visiting hospitals, rehabs, and other facilities. Meanwhile Gary, who was in the midst of the banking meltdown, started to catch the bug as well. "Watching a $2 trillion global crisis I think prepared me well for clowning," he told the Post.

The article goes on:

The Kopffs could make as much as $400 an hour as professional clowns, Judy Kopff said, but they’re not in it for the money, red noses or paddle shoes. 

They do it for the 85-year-old blind woman who smiled upon touching a balloon animal. 

They do it for the veteran who broke into tears after hearing a balloon pop because his post-traumatic stress disorder triggered memories of exploding bombs. He asked for another balloon, determined to overcome his fear and give his child a life with balloons. 

And they do it for the autistic boy who smiled all day, his father said, after Judy Kopff twisted a balloon for him at the Pentagon. 

“While we’re physically tired, it’s always a privilege to be able to [help people], and we don’t have any sense of regret,” Gary Kopff said.

I'm not sure why Gary felt compelled to say there wasn't "any sense of regret." Clowning around--though sans balloon animals, makeup, wig, and funny outfit--and always been my idea of time well spent.

Rather than have regrets, the Kopffs, it seems to me, have found a very good life after mid-life.