It's Been a Grand Year So Far

Seriously, it has. On May 20th (my dad's birthday in Heaven), my story about Willie (see pic above), a cat who adopted us, will be published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from My Cat. This will be the third Chicken Soup for the Soul book I've been in this year, which for me is a record. Now here's what's so unbelievable to me: I'd always wanted to get a story, that's right, ONE story published in a Chicken Soup book. It was a bucket list thing. When my story about my dog Sitka was included in that 2016 title, My Very Good Very Bad Dog, I was ecstatic. My wish had come true. In a weird way, I felt like I could now die happy. I hadn't planned on submitting any more stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul; I was done. Or so I thought. What did I know?

Then, I got an email, a callout really, of upcoming titles encouraging me to submit to more books. Wow, I thought, they must really like me (kinda the way Sally Field said she felt at the Academy Awards). So, I looked at the list and saw a title that appealed to me, one called The Spirit of America. I instantly knew I had the perfect story for them.

I had been mentoring a woman from China with a Ph.D. who was in the U.S. for one year. She told me she wanted to learn about the real America and real Americans, not just what she read in books. Her English was excellent, and we got along famously. I decided that the best way for her to learn about America was for me to show it to her, and show it to her I did. Grace and I met once a week in my office to engage in a half-hour activity, like my teaching her about English idioms, which boggled her mind. For the second half hour, we'd plan an activity we'd do on the weekend. I showed her the kinds of activities Americans in my beachside town liked to do, places we liked to visit, foods we liked to eat, and what made Americans, well, Americans. The best day, and the one I wrote about, was taking her to our county fair. I will never forget that day, and if you'd like to know why, pick up a copy of The Spirit of America. Whenever I think about that day, I can't help but smile.


Fast forward nine years, and I find myself still writing for Chicken Soup for the Soul. Happily writing I should add, because every time I receive a callout from my Chicken Soup family, I see a new opportunity to share a beloved personal story. Getting back to the new cat book coming out on May 20th, this will be the 16th Chicken Soup for the Soul book I've been lucky enough to be in. And to think all I was trying to do with that first story was get into one book. To be able to say, I was a contributor to a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. I never imagined the Chicken Soup folks would honor me by including so many of my stories in their books. I am grateful and consider myself one lucky woman.


Till next time,


Jeffree