Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul: Real-Life Stories by Real Teens

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Stephanie H. Meyer

Overview

Every day you are faced with choices about friends, school, work, family obligations, and the future. It isn't always easy to know which direction to take, and if you do make a mistake, then what?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623610807
Publisher:	Backlist, LLC - a unit of Chicken Soup of the Soul Publishing LLC
Publication date:	08/28/2012
Series:	Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jack Canfield is co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Mark Victor Hansen is a co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Hometown:

Santa Barbara, California

Date of Birth:

August 19, 1944

Place of Birth:

Fort Worth, Texas

Education:

B.A. in History, Harvard University, 1966; M.A.T. Program, University of Chicago, 1968; M.Ed., U. of Massachusetts, 1973

Website:

http://www.jackcanfield.com

Read an Excerpt

1
Life Stories

Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments, and to live each is to succeed.

Corita Kent

Losing Tyler

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

To the observer, we appear to be two average high-school students. He pores over a college guide, and I write my college application essay. Chewing on the end of my no. 2 pencil, I'm trying to think of words to live by. That's my topic.

My mind wanders, and so does my gaze, away from the blank page. I watch Tyler. His forehead creases slightly, and I know in a few seconds he'll snap his head slightly to the side to get his hair out of his face. Counting down—three, two, one . . . His head tosses back slightly to the left. It's mere habit now, since he cut his hair short months ago.

I also predict in a few seconds he'll swear in Gaelic. He does, and I laugh. It's one of those situations where you know the other person better than you know yourself. And, lately, I have found myself observing him more and more.

The expression on his face probably mirrors my own, our eyes filled with stress, frustration, and bewilderment. Where did the time go? Days seem to drag, but years pass quickly.

I rest my head in my hands and watch him. Words to live by still haven't come to me. I have known this person for twelve years. He's been my best friend since preschool; when I have a problem, I go right to him.

As I watch him, he coughs, and I worry. I almost ask him ifhe wants to go outside for some fresh air, but it was his idea to go to the library, so I say nothing. At first glance, he looks fine, perhaps a little tired. But I see the circles under his eyes and the holes he has punched in his belt because of the weight he's lost. That's the third new hole this month. Without looking up, he says, 'Stop staring at me.'

Without moving, I reply, 'I'm not.'
Once, when I was nine, I looked up cystic fibrosis in the dictionary: a common hereditary disease that appears in early childhood, involving generalized disorder of the exocrine glands, and a deficiency of pancreatic enzymes. As a nine-year-old, I was very confused. 'That's not what Tyler has,' I told my mother. 'He coughs a lot and doesn't like to eat. The doctors must be wrong.'

She just hugged me.

For almost as long as I can remember, Tyler has been sick. And it has always amazed me how positive he is. In turn, he's made me positive. I used to be convinced that a lung donor would show up, so sure the geneticists would find a miracle cure. But lately, as I watch him grow thinner and thinner, my positive feelings have turned into a facade, and I worry all the time.

I know he grows frustrated, too. Frustrated that he won't have the chance to do everything he wants to. Frustrated thinking he shouldn't go to college and waste his parents' money on an education he could die in the middle of.

Tyler's angry, too—at the world, at God, and, sometimes, even at me. After all, I'll get to do things he won't. But he would never admit this. In fact, he hides it well. Only I, who have known him so long, know these things.

I'm angry, too, but for selfish reasons. Soon, I'll have no one to talk to. No one will ever understand me the same way; I'm losing the best friend anyone could ever have. God is taking back the kindest, gentlest person I'll ever have the privilege of knowing.

And I still have to think of words to live by.
I feel a tear slide down the right side of my face, but make no move to wipe it away. I don't want him to look up and see me crying. I'm usually good at keeping in my tears, but he always knows.

He looks up. With his left thumb, he wipes away the tear and smiles at me—the same smile he gave me twelve years ago when he offered half a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich to the little girl across the table who had forgotten her lunch.

Tyler looks at the top of my blank page to where I have scrawled 'Words to Live By' and smiles again.
'Always remember, Lise, these words to live by: 'Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught'' [Percy B. Shelley].

Lisa Gauches

©2008. Lisa Gauches. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Stephanie H. Meyer, John Meyer. 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.

Table of Contents

Foreword Beverly Beckham xi

Introduction xiii

1 Life Stories

Losing Tyler Lisa Gauches 2

Bargaining with God Kelly Powell 5

Knowing When Meredith Caine 8

The Old Puzzle Emily Newick 12

So Over You Sharlyne Gan 16

I Sat with Nikki Micaela Golding 17

A Little Memorial Jason Jellies 20

Control Gulielma Fager 23

I Knew a Boy Anna Holmquist 27

Our Masterpiece Kerri Morrone 29

Five Minutes Jill Telford 32

What Doesn't Matter Clara Nguyen 34

2 Friendship

Safe for the Night Amanda Hager 36

Torrie, Jay, and Me Emily Carney 39

Leaning on Each Other Rebecca Bodfish 42

P.S. Never Forget Me Stephanie Skaluba 45

Stop! LEGO Thief! Patti Hulett 50

Mirror Image Meghan Heckman 53

I Closed My Eyes Annabel Murphy Schizas 57

Destroying the Bully Ann Virgo 60

Emily, the Soccer Star Suzanne Timmons 63

Friendly Training Lisa Kelly 67

Dear Amy AmyBeth Gardner 71

Obituary Kathleen McCarney 75

3 Facing Challenges

Still Handsome Julie White 78

His Last Smile Lyndsey Costello 81

Out of Love Julia Gudish 84

Saving My Brother Holly Hester 87

I was Twelve Tiffany Mitchell 89

The Best Haircut Ever Jessie Spellman 92

Apple Orchard Natascha Batchelor 95

Exit: My Hero Amanda Caryn O'Loughlin 99

One Tear for Bravery Ashley Johnston 103

Room 103 Courtney Kersten 106

Honey. Sweetie. Darling Jason Sherwood 108

4 Love Stories

It Was Real Stacy Boudreau 110

Nick Teresa Porter 114

My First Kiss Katie Zbydniewski 118

Sweetness Emma Bodnar 121

The Hole in My Heart Olivia King 123

Eye Candy Stephanie Rose Xavier 125

The Master Lion Tamer Jeff Yao 127

The First Dana Rusk 132

School Dance Adam Smith 133

Don Juan, Goldfish Lisa Kelly 136

Empty Love Olivia Godbee 140

Six O'Clock Now Joyce Sun 142

Back to Life George Newton 145

A Turtle-Shaped Box Daniel Bailey 147

5 Personal Hurdles

Weight of the Matter Christina Courtemarche 150

Spilled Coffee Emilee Castillo 152

Where Is Perfect? Allyson Klein 156

The Spigot AmyBeth Gardner 159

Crashing Over the Edge Annie Gaughen 163

A Forced Eruption Amie Barbone Powell 166

I Never Wanted to Hurt Them Lilly Aston 168

Six Minutes and Three Seconds Emily Scavarda 171

Sassy Amy Hochsprung Lawton 175

Empty V. L. Zinger 178

A Beard Steven Jones 181

6 Family Stuff

Car Talk Nicole Docteur 184

A Familiar Stranger Jamie Sarfeh 187

Leaving Dad Kimberly Burton 190

Maybe Tomorrow Kelly Jean Laubenheimer 193

The Greatest Man Andrea Nickerson 196

Fake Bonnie Tamarin 198

Happy with Nothing Clair Saeger 200

Dear Mom and Dad Kimberly Williams 203

The God in My Father Annie Xu 207

Portrait of My Brother Katie Weiss 210

Wedding Pictures Jessica Lin 211

7 Through the Generations

Holding On Kaidi Stroud 216

Her Gift Andrew G. Briggs 218

Gram Susan Landry 221

Christmas Cookies Helen Comber 222

When Grandparents Laugh Mariel Boyarsky 227

My Pepere Angie Forest 230

She Said Katherine Cincotta 232

Visiting Hours Are Over Megan Willman 233

Pancakes and Beethoven Sarah Miles Ryan 236

They Say It's a Hospital Renata Silberblatt 239

8 Fitting In

Bubble Trouble Valerie Gribben 242

The Longest Hallway Kendra Lider-Johnson 245

The Fat Kid David Gelbard 247

Cooking with Fire Moritz Mathias 251

Becoming a Goth Maria Adelmann 254

I'm Not Prejudiced, Am I? Aaron Shield 257

Still Me Inside Mai Goda 261

More Than a Wheelchair Mallory Dzubay 264

Race Matters Marquise Jones 268

9 Monumental Moments

Who Am I? Mary Buehler 272

Life in the Middle Lane Sara Cafarelli 274

The Making of a Man Rob Dangel 277

Titration Scott Molony 282

The Pond Jennifer Phelps 283

Polly Want a Cracker? Dominick Vargas 286

Reflection in the Skies Allison Briggs 289

Princesses Ashley Strickler 292

Raspberries Adam Kirshner 294

The Manual Jacqueline Miraglia 296

Who Is Jack Canfield? 299

Who Is Mark Victor Hansen? 300

Who Are Stephanie and John Meyer? 301

Contributors 302

Permissions 314