A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul Read online

  Unexpected

  Detective Anne Newell

  275

  Scattered Memories

  Lt. Col. Janis A. Nark

  280

  Snowed In

  Susan G. Fey

  284

  Susie's Run

  Thomas R. Overton

  287

  The Right Thoughts Riding in My Mind

  Kathy Higgins

  289

  A Tale of Canine Courage

  Robert Tate Miller

  291

  Don't Quit

  Author Unknown

  295

  Persistence Pays Off

  Curtis McAllister

  297

  When Your Back Is Against the Wall

  Pat Riley

  300

  I'll Do Anything!

  Dolly Trout

  304

  Henri Dunant

  Bits & Pieces

  307

  8. Eclectic Wisdom

  The Trouble Tree

  Author Unknown

  310

  A Handle on Love

  Paul Glanville

  312

  The Old Fisherman

  Author Unknown

  314

  I Was Dying

  Anonymous

  317

  Encouragement

  The Sower's Seeds

  318

  Guess You Just Had to Have Known Gladys

  Diane Brucato Thomas

  320

  Inspiration

  Lea Gambina

  322

  State of Mind

  Author Unknown

  326

  101 Gifts to Give All Year Long

  Hanoch and Meladee McCarty

  327

  More Chicken Soup?

  331

  Soup Kitchens for the Soul

  332

  Who Is Jack Canfield?

  333

  Who Is Mark Victor Hansen?

  334

  Who Is Hanoch McCarty?

  335

  Who Is Meladee McCarty?

  336

  Contributors

  337

  Permissions (continued)

  346

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  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This fourth volume of Chicken Soup for the Soul took over 18 months to write, compile and edit. It has been a joyous, though always difficult, task and we must thank all those whose contributions made it possible.

  Our familiesGeorgia and Patty, Christopher, Oran, Kyle, Stephanie, McAllister, Shayna Liora, Ethan, Melanie and Elisabeth who have given again and again of their love, editing, story ideas and story writing and editorial suggestions as well as continual emotional support.

  Heather McNamara, our senior editor, who was the project coordinator for this book. She was instrumental at every stagecompiling, editing, typing, sequencing, choosing quotes and cartoons and keeping the whole thing on track in the midst of constant chaos.

  Nancy Mitchell, who always found the gold nuggets among the thousands of stories we sifted through and for her incredible effectiveness and perseverance at getting all of the permissions we needed.

  Patty Aubery, who oversaw every aspect of production, managed the staff and kept The Canfield Training Group moving forward during a time of great flux.

  Kim Kirberger, our new managing editor, who read over 3,000 stories to help complete this book during its final stages.

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  Ro Miller for handling much of our correspondence and phone communications with our many contributors and for being the first reader of so many of the stories.

  Veronica Romero, Lisa Williams, Michelle Adams, Julie Barnes and Trisha Holland for holding down the fort while the rest of us wrote and edited.

  Teresa Spohn who handled Jack's calendar and helped with typing at the crucial final stages.

  Jean Ruby for spending countless hours typing, mailing, calling; tracking down authors and permissions; scheduling Meladee's and Hanoch's time to fit this grueling writing process; and keeping them on task.

  Leona Green, Sidney Simon, Eric Speiss, Carolee Dunagan and Karen Leal for being the most consistent story finders and senders, hunting through so many possible sources and publications.

  Peter Vegso and Gary Seidler, at Health Communications, Inc., for their continuing vision of the direction and value of these books and for their unflagging support in getting these stories out to people all over the world.

  To Christine Belleris, Matthew Diener and Mark Colucci, our editors at Health Communications, Inc., who very tenderly take our work to the highest level possible.

  Trudy Klefstad at OfficeWorks, for her overnight typing in the final stages of preparing the manuscript.

  Arielle Ford and Kim Weiss, our publicists, who continue to get the word out about the Chicken Soup series.

  A heartfelt thank you to those special people who were readers and raters of stories. In the midst of their own busy schedules, they found the time and energy to go through mounds of stories and brought their unique points of view to bear in evaluating them. We couldn't have created a book of such high quality without them. They represent every area of our country and a wide variety of ethnic and professional backgrounds: Virgie

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  Binford, Clara Boyle, Diana Chapman, Leslie and Marty Cohen, Rose Marie Cortez, Lizann Cruz-Hinds, Delores Ehrlich, Mel Ehrlich, Sarah Eisenberg, Joan Frey, Carolyn Gardner, Dora Graye, Norman Green, Leona Green, Julie A. Greenman, Mike Grogan, Susan Milchin Grossman, Donna L. Hanson, Shayna Liora Hinds, Mitchell Hinds, Sandy Holland, Tom Huntington, Rebecca Jacobson, Mary Ellen Klinc, Jennifer M. Krumm, Marianne Larned, Donna Loesch, Lulu Lopez, Aileen Nitta, Bruce Nitta, Cindy Palajac, A. Gringa Parnussa, Dave Potter, Dave Rabb, Ann C. Richards, Fred Richards, Elizabeth Sabo, Judith Salzburg, Jack Schlatter, Shelly Seddon, Victor Schmenge, Lois Veen, Hilda Villaverde, Glennis Weatherall, Jackie Wenger, Mike Wenger, Rebecca Whitney, Maureen Wilcinski and Steven Zacker.

  We give honor to all those thousands of people who sent in stories, poems and quotes for possible inclusion. We regret that we couldn't use everything that was submittedso many were of marvelous quality and sentiment that it made choosing a difficult process indeed. Thank you for sharing yourselves and your insights.

  Because of the immensity of this project, we may have left out the names of some people who helped us along the way. If so, we are sorry. Please know that we really do appreciate all of you.

  We are truly grateful for the many hands and hearts that made this book possible. We love you all!

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  INTRODUCTION

  Everybody is a story. When I was a child, people sat around kitchen tables and told their stories. We don't do that so much anymore. Sitting around the table telling stories is not just a way of passing time. It is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us live a life worth remembering. Despite the awesome powers of technology many of us still do not live very well. We need to listen to each other's stories once again.

  Rachel Naomi Remen

  Everyone has a story. No matter what we do for a living, how much we have in our bank account or what the color of our skin is, we have a story. Each one of us has a story, whether it is visible to the eye or it is locked inside of us. We are encouraged to believe that our past, our circumstances, both physical and emotional, and our experiences are our story. Our mental picture of our life's story encompasses what we perceive to be true about ourselves and our possibilities.

  The life one is born into is not necessarily our destiny. All of us have the power to rewrite our story, to recast the

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  drama of our lives and to redirect the actions of the main character, ourselves. The outcomes of our lives are determined mainly by our responses to each event. Do we choose to be hero or victim in our lives' dramas?

  Good stories, like the best mentors in our lives, are door openers. They are unique experiences containin
g insights tied to emotional triggers that get our attention and stay in our memories. These stories can free us from being bound to decisions of the past and open us to understanding ourselves and the opportunities that are there before us. A really good story allows us to recognize the choices that are open to us and see new alternatives we might never have seen before. It can give us permission to try (or at least consider trying) a new path.

  Many of the people you will meet in these pages provide a model to follow of unconditional acts of kindness and love, of great courage and foresight, of belief when cynicism would be the norm, a sense of hope in what the world has to offer, and the inspiration to seek it for ourselves.

  Some of the stories you will refer to again and again because the message is one of comfort and encouragement. Other stories will inspire you to share them with your family, friends and colleagues.

  How to Read This Book

  We have had the tremendous opportunity to receive feedback from readers all over the world. Some have shared with us that they get the most value if they read our books from cover to cover. Others focus in depth on a particular chapter that interests them. Most people tell us that they find it works best to read one or two stories at a time, and really savor the feelings and lessons that the stories evoke. Our advice is to take your time and really let each story effect you at a deep level. Ask yourself how you

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  could apply the lessons learned to your own life. Engage each story as if it mattered, as if it could make a real difference in your life.

  Compiling these stories has taken a lot of work, but we feel we have selected 101 gems. We hope you will love these stories as we have loved them. May they bring you tears, laughter, insight, healing and empowerment.

  We hope that we can in a small way contribute to your life by bringing you these models of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to guide you on your journey. We wish for you that, in the pages of this book there is a story that holds the key to doors that need opening in your life.

  JACK CANFIELD, MARK VICTOR HANSEN,

  HANOCH MCCARTY AND MELADEE MCCARTY

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  FROM A PREVIOUS READER

  Dear Sirs:

  I am writing you from a military base in Panama to thank you for your marvelous book and to share with you the impact it has had on my life and upon those with whom I have shared it.

  I was alone in my hotel room one night after working extended hours when I read the story ''Information Please" in A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul. I am not ashamed to confess that I cried profusely and found something healing in those tears. At that point I wrote a poem for you which I have enclosed.

  Later I shared your book with a Marine who was in charge of guarding access to classified information. He was the third in line of armed security making his job the least demanding and the most boring. Because of this his superior officer had given him permission to read, but he had forgotten a book. It was going to be a long 12-hour watch for him so I gave him a copy of A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, which I had in my briefcase. I warned him, however, that he might be caught in the act of "unMarine-like" emotional catharsis after reading some of the stories.

  I entered the hallway at the end of our watch and found another armed Marine standing next to the first.

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  Both of them had moist eyes as one said, "Kinda gets you, doesn't it?"

  The other Marine replied, "Roger that," and walked off. Seeing me, he said, "Thanks for the book, Lieutenant. I'm going to the exchange first thing tomorrow to buy me one."

  "Told you there were some zingers in there," I said, and we bid each other good night.

  Thanks for a great book. I recommend it to everybody.

  Here's the poem.

  Tell me a story, my heart is empty.

  Let the tears flow, my eyes are dry.

  Too long has discouragement bound me.

  Lift my soul, let me fly.

  Tell me a story, my hope has diminished.

  Tell me of faith and love.

  Remind me that we are created

  To live on earth as in heaven above.

  Tell me a story, fill my heart with compassion.

  Open my eyes, I've been blind.

  Remind me that all men are brothers,

  That we all should be loving and kind.

  Serve me another helping,

  More Chicken Soup for My Soul.

  To love let us encourage each other,

  That higher dimensions of love may we know.

  Lieutenant Morris Passmore, USNR

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  1

  ON LOVE

  A chemist who can extract from his heart's element, compassion, respect, longing, patience, regret, surprise, and forgiveness and compound them into one can create that atom which is called love.

  Kahlil Gibran

  Page 2

  A Friend on the Line

  Life without a friend is death without a witness.

  Spanish Proverb

  Even before I finished dialing, I somehow knew I'd made a mistake. The phone rang once, twicethen someone picked it up.

  "You got the wrong number!" a husky male voice snapped before the line went dead. Mystified, I dialed again.

  "I said you got the wrong number!" came the voice. Once more the phone clicked in my ear.

  How could he possibly know I had a wrong number? At that time, I worked for the New York City Police Department. A cop is trained to be curiousand concerned. So I dialed a third time.

  "Hey, c'mon," the man said. "Is this you again?"

  "Yeah, it's me," I answered. "I was wondering how you knew I had the wrong number before I even said anything."

  "You figure it out!" The phone slammed down.

  I sat there awhile, the receiver hanging loosely in my

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  fingers. I called the man back.

  "Did you figure it out yet?" he asked.

  "The only thing I can think of is . . . nobody ever calls you."

  "You got it!" The phone went dead for the fourth time. Chuckling, I dialed the man back.

  "What do you want now?" he asked.

  "I thought I'd call . . . just to say hello."