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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
The fourth installment in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series promises to be even more popular than its predecessors. The perfect gift for friends, family and business associates is now available in A 4th Course. |
A Family for Freddie
I remember the first time I saw Freddie. He was standing in his playpen at the adoption agency where I work. He gave me a toothy grin. What a beautiful baby, I thought.
His boarding mother gathered him into her arms. 'Will you be able to find a family for Freddie?'
Then I saw it. Freddie had been born without arms.
'He's so smart. He's only 10 months old, and already he walks and talks.' She kissed him. 'Say 'book' for Mrs. Blair.'
Freddie grinned at me and hid his head on his boarding mother's shoulder. 'Now, Freddie, don't act that way,' she said. 'He's really very friendly,' she added. 'Such a good, good boy.'
Freddie reminded me of my own son when he was that age, the same thick dark curls, the same brown eyes.
'You won't forget him, Mrs. Blair? You will try?'
'I won't forget.'
I went upstairs and got out my latest copy of the Hard-to-Place list.
Freddie is a 10-month-old white Protestant boy of English and French background. He has brown eyes, dark-brown hair and fair skin. Freddie was born without arms, but is otherwise in good health. His boarding mother feels he is of superior mentality, and he is already walking and saying a few words. Freddie is a warm, affectionate child who has been surrendered by his natural mother and is ready for adoption.
He's ready, I thought. But who is ready for him?
It was 10 o'clock on a lovely late-summer morning, and the agency was full of couples—couples having interviews, couples meeting babies, families being born. These couples nearly always have the same dream: They want a child as much like themselves as possible, as young as possible, and most important—a child with no problems.
'If he develops a problem after we get him,' they say, 'that is a risk we'll take just like any other parents. But to pick a baby who already has a problem, that's too much.'
And who can blame them?
I wasn't alone in looking for parents for Freddie. Any of the caseworkers meeting a new couple started with a hope: maybe they were for Freddie. But summer slipped into fall, and Freddie was with us for his first birthday.
'Freddie is so-o-o big,' said Freddie, laughing. 'So-o-o big.'
And then I found them.
It started out as it always does—an impersonal record in my box, a new case, a new Home Study, two people who wanted a child. They were Frances and Edwin Pearson. She was 41. He was 45. She was a housewife. He was a truck driver.
I went to see them. They lived in a tiny white frame house, in a big yard full of sun and old trees. They greeted me together at the door, eager and scared to death.
Mrs. Pearson produced steaming coffee and oven-warm cookies. They sat before me on the sofa, close together, holding hands. After a moment, Mrs. Pearson began.
'Today is our wedding anniversary. Eighteen years.'
'Good years.' Mr. Pearson looked at his wife. 'Except—'
'Yes,' she said. 'Except. Always the 'except.'' She looked around the room.
'It's too neat,' she said. 'You know?'
I thought of my own living room with my three children.
Teenagers now. 'Yes,' I said. 'I know.'
'Perhaps we're too old?'
I smiled. 'You don't think so,' I said. 'We don't either.'
'You always think it will be this month, and then next month,' Mr. Pearson said. 'Examinations. Tests. All kinds of things. Over and over. But nothing ever happened. You just go on hoping and hoping, and time keeps slipping by.'
'We've tried to adopt before this,' Mr. Pearson said. 'One agency told us our apartment was too small, so we got this house. Then another agency said I didn't make enough money. We had decided that was it, but this friend told us about you, and we decided to make one last try.'
'I'm glad,' I said.
Mrs. Pearson glanced at her husband proudly. 'Can we choose at all?' she asked.
'A boy for my husband?'
'We'll try for a boy,' I said. 'What kind of boy?'
Mrs. Pearson laughed. 'How many kinds are there? Just a boy. My husband is very athletic. He played football in high school; basketball, too, and track. He would be good for a boy.'
Mr. Pearson looked at me. 'I know you can't tell exactly,' he said, 'but can you give us any idea how soon? We've waited so long.'
I hesitated. There is always this question.
'Next summer maybe,' said Mrs. Pearson. 'We could take him to the beach.'
'That long?' Mr. Pearson said. 'Don't you have anyone at all. There must be a little boy somewhere.' After a pause he went on, 'Of course, we can't give him as much as other people. We haven't a lot of money saved up.'
'We've got a lot of love,' his wife said. 'We've saved up a lot of that.'
'Well,' I said cautiously, 'there is a little boy. He is 13 months old.'
'Oh,' Mrs. Pearson said, 'just a beautiful age.'
'I have a picture of him,' I said, reaching for my purse. I handed them Freddie's picture. 'He is a wonderful little boy,' I said. 'But he was born without arms.'
They studied the picture in silence. He looked at her.
'What do you think, Fran?'
'Kickball,' Mrs. Pearson said. 'You could teach him kickball.'
'Athletics are not so important,' Mr. Pearson said. 'He can learn to use his head. Arms he can do without. A head, never. He can go to college. We'll save for it.'
'A boy is a boy,' Mrs. Pearson insisted. 'He needs to play. You can teach him.'
'I'll teach him. Arms aren't everything. Maybe we can get him some.'
They had forgotten me. But maybe Mr. Pearson was right, I thought. Maybe sometime Freddie could be fitted with artificial arms. He did have nubs where arms should be.
'Then you might like to see him?'
They looked up. 'When could we have him?'
'You think you might want him?'
Mrs. Pearson looked at me. 'Might?' she said. 'Might?'
'We want him,' her husband said.
Mrs. Pearson went back to the picture. 'You've been waiting for us,' she said. 'Haven't you?'
'His name is Freddie,' I said, 'but you can change it.'
'No,' said Mr. Pearson. 'Frederick Pearson—it's good together.'
And that was it.
There were formalities, of course; and by the time we set the day, Christmas lights were strung across city streets and wreaths were hung everywhere.
I met the Pearsons in the waiting room. There was a little snow on them both.
'Your son's here already,' I told them. 'Let's go upstairs and I'll bring him to you.'
'I've got butterflies,' Mrs. Pearson announced. 'Suppose he doesn't like us?''
I put my hand on her arm. 'I'll get him,' I said.
Freddie's boarding mother had dressed him in a new white suit, with a sprig of green holly and red berries embroidered on the collar. His hair shone, a mop of dark curls.
'Going home,' Freddie said to me, smiling, as his boarding mother put him in my arms.
'I told him that,' she said. 'I told him he was going to his new home.'
She kissed him, and her eyes were wet.
'Good-bye, dear. Be a good boy.'
'Good boy,' said Freddie cheerfully. 'Going home.'
I carried him upstairs to the little room where the Pearsons were waiting. When I got there, I put him on his feet and opened the door.
'Merry Christmas,' I said.
Freddie stood uncertainly, rocking a little, gazing intently at the two people before him. They drank him in.
Mr. Pearson knelt on one knee. 'Freddie, come here. Come to Daddy.'
Freddie looked back at me for a moment. Then, turning, he walked slowly toward them, and they reached out their arms and gathered him in.
Abbie Blair
©1997. All rights reserved. Reprinted from A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul® by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.
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 Jack CanfieldJack Canfield is a best-selling author and one of America's leading experts in the development of human potential. He is both a dynamic and entertaining speaker and a highly sought-after trainer with a wonderful ability to inform and inspire audiences to pen their hearts, love more openly and pursue their dreams. He is the author and narrator of several best-selling audio- and video cassette programs, including Self Esteem and Peak Performance, How to Build High Self-Esteem, Self-Esteem in the Classroom and Chicken Soup for the Soul – Live. He is regularly seen on television shows such as Good Morning America, 20/20 and NBC Nightly News. Jack has co-authored numerous books, including the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Mark Victor Hansen), 100 Ways to Build Self-Concept in the Classroom (with Harold C. Wells) and Heart At Work (with Jacqueline Miller). Jack is a regularly featured speaker for professional associations, school districts, government agencies, churches, hospitals, sales organizations and corporations. Jack conducts an annual eight-day Training of Trainers program in the areas of self esteem and peak performance. It attracts educators, counselors, parenting trainers, corporate trainers, professional speakers, ministers and other interested in developing their speaking and seminar-leading skills. Visit the Chicken Soup for the Soul website, at www.chickensoup.com. [ More]
 Mark Victor HansenMark Victor Hansen is a professional speakers who, in the last twenty years, had made over four-thousand presentations to more than 2 million people in 32 countries. His presentations cover sales excellence and strategies; personal empowerment and development; and how to triple your income and double your time off.
Mark has spent a lifetime dedicated to his mission of making a profound and positive difference in people's lives. Throughout his career, he has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to create a more powerful and purposeful future for themselves while stimulating the sale of billions of dollars worth of goods and services.
Marc is a prolific writer and has authored Future Diary, How to Achieve Total Prosperity and The Miracle of Tithing. He is co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Jack Canfield), and The Master Motivator (with Joe Batten).
Mark has also produced a complete library of personal empowerment audio- and videocassette programs that have enabled his listeners to recognize and use their innate abilities in their business and personal lives. His message has made him a popular television and radio personality, with appearances on ABC, CBS, HBO, PBS, and CNN. He has also appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, including Success, Entrepreneur and Changes.
Mark is a big man with a heart and spirit to match — an inspiration to all who seek to better themselves.
Visit the Chicken Soup for the Soul website, at www.chickensoup.com. [ More]
 Meladee McCarty Meladee McCarty is a professional educator and dynamic speaker in the field of special education and inclusionary education. She is a Program Specialist for the Sacramento County Office of Education. She works to provide inclusional education settings for children with disabilities and presents a variety of trainings to educators on Kindness in the Workplace; Communication and Team Building Self-Esteem in the Classroom; Humor in the Learning Process and Focusing on the Disruptive Child. She has extensive experience helping schools and other institutions meet the needs of disabled students and workers.
Meladee is the coauthor, with her husband Hanoch McCarty, of Acts of Kindness: How to Create a Kindness Reuolution; A Year of Kindness: 365 Ways to Spread Sunshine and The Daily Journal of Kindness. They have traveled all over the United States and Norway together working with educators and business professionals on the goal of bringing more kindness and altruism into the world, workplace, home, community and classroom. Meladee and Hanoch have a wonderful time working and playing together. Meladee is a master at using appropriate humor to defuse tension and conflict. They have traveled all over the United States and Norway together working with educators and business professionals on the goal of bringing more kindness and altruism into the world, workplace, home, community and classroom. Meladee and Hanoch have a wonderful time working and playing together. Of their many accomplishments, being parents and spending time with their granddaughter is their most cherished role.
It is Meladee's goal to bring more kindness into the world and create a positive impact on those with whom she comes in contact. She is deeply touched and encouraged by the contributors to this book and the many wonderful kind and loving acts of altruism they have shared that keeps recreating a world that is a better place for all of us.
To contact Meladee for more information about her programs:
The Kindness Revolution
P.O. Box 66
Galt, CA 95632-0066
phone: 209-745-2212 / fax: 209-745-2252
Visit Meladee online at www.grandparentsoul.com. [ More]
 Hanoch McCarty Hanoch McCarty is one of America's most sought-after keynote speakers. He is famous for his high energy, the appropriateness of his examples and stories, the drama and humor of his presentations, and the fact that he always interacts with his audiences in the most exciting way. He researches and custom designs each presentation.
His clients say that they've noticed conference participants are more involved, more active in each session and more satisfied with the entire conference when they’ve had a Hanoch McCarty keynote! The energy he imparts is infectious: he’s got a flair for humor, for communicating his belief that we each can make a real difference if we truly commit to that goal. He is the most energetic presenter you’ll ever see: he flies around the room. Using his own wireless microphone, he is able to reach every corner of the room and involve each and every member of the audience. The laughter is loud, the insights he imparts are deep and long-lasting.
Hanoch gives over 80 presentations each year all over the world. He has spoken in 16 countries including mainland China, Japan and Norway. He has spoken in most major cities in the United States as well. His client list includes: Quad/Graphics Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Ortho Biotech, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Houston Public Schools, Dade County Schools, Broward County Schools, Nebraska Association of School Administrators, Arizona Association of School Administrators, the University of Phoenix, University of Dayton, Foster Grandparent Program, and similar groups all over the country. He speaks to school systems, college faculties, professional associations, medical practices, health maintenance organizations, dental groups, hospital staffs, law practices and industry groups.
He is the author of many books and training programs, including: Self Esteem in the Classroom: The Experts Speak; Growing Pains in the Classroom; Ten Keys to Successful Parent Involvement; Weekends: Great Ideas for Memorable Adventures; and Speaking to the Heart. With his wife Meladee, he is coauthor of five books, including the bestsellers, A 4 th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Chicken Soup for the Grandparent’s Soul, Acts of Kindness: How to Create a Kindness Revolution; A Year of Kindness: 365 Ways to Spread Sunshine; and The Daily Journal of Kindness.
Hanoch's presentations have included
Finding the “Easy Button”: Reaching and Teaching the Fragile Learners at the Bottom of Every Class,
You Can Make THE Difference!,
The Awesome Power of Your Family’s Stories,
The Hidden Power of Kindness in the Workplace;
Self-Esteem: The Bottom Line in Employee Motivation and Productivity;
and many presentations for public and private schools on the connection between self-esteem and school achievement.
Bestspeaker.com
PO . Box 66
Galt , CA 95632-0066 [ More]
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Inventory:
Available usually ships within 24–48 hours
ISBN-10:
1558744592
ISBN-13:
9781558744592
HCI-Item:
4592
Book Format:
Paperback
Page Count:
376
Publication Date:
4/1/1997
Category:
Self-Help/Inspiration/Audio
Series:
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