Contents

Introduction

Joy

Overtaken by Joy by Ardis Whitman

Shall We Dance? by Neil Simon

The Bottom Line on Happiness by Clayton M. Christensen

Obey That Impulse by William Moulton Marston

In Search of Heaven by Gail Cameron Wescott

Gilligan’s Aisle by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Miracles

The Gold-and-Ivory Tablecloth by Rev. Howard C. Schade

A Dog Like No Other by Peter Muilenburg

“A Man Don’t Know What He Can Do” by Elise Miller Davis

The Forked-Stick Phenomenon by Emily and Per Ola d’Aulaire

Letter in the Wallet by Arnold Fine

Gratitude

Christopher Reeve’s Decision by Christopher Reeve

“Information Please” by Paul Villiard

The Dream Horse and the Dining-Room Table by Billy Porterfield

His Gift of the Future by Marc Lerner

A Heart for the Run by Gary Paulsen

The Gratitude Club by Steve Hartman

Giving

The Christmas Present by James A. Michener

The Man on the Train by Alex Haley

Ferragamo’s Gift by Susan Shreve

Letting Go by Litty Mathew

She Gave Her Father Life by Henry Hurt

Holidays

A Family for Freddie by Abbie Blair

A String of Blue Beads by Fulton Oursler

Night of Hope and Possibility by Roxanne Willems Snopek

The Holiday I’ll Never Forget by Rick Bragg, Esmeralda Santiago, Melissa Fay Greene, Tayari Jones, Floyd Skloot, Lee Smith and Jenny Allen

Christmas Out of Season by Robert Fulghum

Healing

A Love Like No Other by Skip Hollandsworth

Two Words to Avoid, Two to Remember by Arthur Gordon

The Day My Silent Brother Spoke by Jim Watson

The Ugliest Cat in the World by Penny Porter

My Fourteenth Summer by W. W. Meade

Mother Courage by Linda Kramer Jenning

Heroes

An Open Letter to Students by Dwight D. Eisenhower

Three Days to See by Helen Keller

How America Can Make Brotherhood Work by Bill Bradley

The Night I Met Einstein by Jerome Weidman

My Father and Me by Billy Crystal

 

Credits and Acknowledgements