The rich have it easy, at least rich working moms do. For starters, they don’t really need to work. Then, if they do work, for God-only-knows-what reason, they can call on an army of maids, nannies, chauffeurs and other various and sundry servants to attend to them and their kids. No need to start a fund for the care of working rich moms.

Or so it seems.

Yet as millions of working women know, to suggest that work is for money alone is something akin to suggesting that raising kids is solely about survival of the species. Both require a clinical – some might say cynical – view of life’s bounties, overlooking the emotional satisfaction and sense of achievement that both career and parenthood are uniquely capable of providing.

Gloria Vanderbilt was born 73 years ago with an oversized silver spoon in her mouth. Her great-great-grandfather, Cornelius, owned the New York Central Railroad and the original Grand Central Terminal on 42nd Street in Manhattan. By some reckonings, counted in 2008 dollars, Vanderbilt’s fortune lags only behind John D. Rockefeller as the largest in American history.

Gloria’s childhood was one big mess. Her dad drank himself to death when she was less than two years old and her mom was, by most accounts, an emotional adolescent. Gloria’s aunt, Gertrude, persuaded a court in 1934 to put young Gloria and Gloria’s inheritance under her control. The legal wranglings were major-league tabloid fodder.

As an adult, Gloria married and divorced three times and her fourth husband, with whom she had her two youngest boys, died at age 50 during open heart surgery in 1978. At the time, son Carter was 12; Anderson, 10.

It would not be the last major tragedy in Gloria’s life.

Although she didn’t really need the money, Gloria had a knack for home decorating and design, and fashion, and she parlayed her skills into a globally recognized, eponymously named company and brand that continues to be successful to this day.

My brother and I thought it was funny," recalled Anderson in his 2006 autobiography, Dispatches From The Edge, "We’d count how many times we saw our mother’s name stitched on the back pocket of somebody’s pants." Anderson, now 40, is the chief anchor of CNN and host of Anderson Cooper 360º. He is also a contributor to CBS News’ 60 Minutes.

The journalist and author credits his mother’s endurance to her character and her ability to stay centered regardless of what life brings, which tragically included the suicide of Anderson’s older brother, Carter, in 1978 at age 23.

"My mother once said that she survived the traumas of her childhood because she always felt that inside of herself there was a crystal core, a diamond nothing could get at or scratch," Anderson writes.

Such "diamonds," which should include a fastidious commitment to be happy, are certainly not the exclusive providence of the ultra rich.

Thank you, Gloria Vanderbilt.