COS COB, Conn. — “It was a reminder that love costs nothing, but means everything to a mother and her daughter.”
That’s how Malinda Dunlap Fillingim felt when her 5-year-old daughter worked hard to give her two quarters for Christmas. Her daughter, Hope, knew her mom loved to read the newspaper. They couldn’t afford to get a paper delivery and always read the paper together when they could find it for free.
Years later, when Hope went to college, Malinda gave her daughter a jar of quarters, “a reminder that her love was priceless to me.” Malinda, like the other contributors to “Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Mothers & Daughters” (Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, March 13, 2012, 978-1935096818, $14.95), knows that while mother-daughter relationships will evolve over the years, they’re always something to be cherished.
USA Today: Harrodsburg resident Bobbie Rightmyer has a story in “The Magic of Mothers and Daughters.” It is titled “Ripped Pants,” and is located in Chapter 7, “Learning From Each Other.”
From tales of growing up, to encouragement, to learning from each other, the stories in “Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Mothers & Daughters” illustrate this special relationship. These stories will make you laugh, make you cry, and help you appreciate the special bond between mothers and daughters.
As Amy Newmark, co-author of this book and publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul, writes in the introduction, “As they get older, our daughters become more and more like us. ... The little girl who wanted to be just like her mommy, wearing matching nightgowns, turned into the somewhat disdainful teenager who wanted to create her own identity, and then turned into the young adult who smiles when she is told ‘you are just like your mother.’”
Newmark recounts that her 20-something daughter has turned out as Version 2.0 — a better version of her mom.
Many contributors share stories of supportive mothers, like Caitlin Q. Bailey O’Neill, who writes that her mother encouraged her and her siblings to be confident and creative. Whether it was a unicorn, a hammerhead shark, an actress, or an English major, her mother’s answer was always the same: “Whatever you want to be.”
Mothers will see it’s OK to let their daughters grow up, like Victoria Koch, who had to accept her daughter had started driving. Readers will be uplifted when they read stories of reconciliation such as Lynn Sunday’s. She had a strained relationship, barely speaking, with her mother ever since her father died when she was a teenager. When her mother was 91 years old, mother and daughter learned it’s never too late to make amends. Contributor Lisa Tiffin sums it up like this: “Plenty of people joke they are afraid of becoming like their mothers, but for me I can only hope that I might be like her — kind, caring and in tune with what other people need.”
Whether they are looking for a little inspiration to improve their relationship, or just enjoy reading great stories from other mothers and daughters, this new “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book makes for a heartwarming and entertaining read and a wonderful gift.
Since 1993, books in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series have sold over 112 million copies, with titles translated into over 40 languages. Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing also licenses the right to use its famous trademark to high quality licensees. The company is currently implementing a plan to expand into all media, is working with TV networks on several TV shows and is developing a major Internet presence dedicated to life improvement, emotional support, inspiration and wellness.
In 2007, USA Today named “Chicken Soup for the Soul” one of the five most memorable and impactful books in the last quarter century. For more information visit: www.chickensoup.com.
