Customer Reviews

Chocolate for a Woman's Spirit: 77 Stories of Inspiration to Life Your Heart and Sooth Your Soul

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The "Chocolate" books continue to be a delicious way to sit back and fill up with stories that delight and fulfill. I recognize myself and the women in my life in each of these delightful stories. What a treat to invite these wonderful women into my home like a cherished group of old friends! Like their namesake indulgence, these stories might not be the most "sensible" reading a girl could do, but they are certainly some of the most satisfying . . .

Adrienne Wiley, editor of the upcoming book "For This I Am Grateful" from Everyday Wisdom Press.

Kay Allenbaugh's Chocolate Series of books are warm and wonderful. Kay and her collaborators help woman find that place of compassion and knowing. . .that place that's soft and strong and worn of time. Kay reminds us of the wisdom we've developed from showing up for life. . .thank you. Kay, for reading that means I am connected with other women who love and feel and grow and learn to live from white to dark and sweet to bittersweet--who grow tastier with every day and year!

Love reading these stories at the end of the day. It helps me make sense of life to hear other women's stories. We can learn so much from each other. Chocolate for a Woman's Spirit inspires me to listen more carefully to spirit, to trust my intuitions.

Perhaps I was expecting too much, but I was disappointed in this book. There were definitely a few excellent stories in it, but it contained too many that seemed to be written by women who had messed up their lives and were trying to sugar -coat (or chocolate-coat) their mistakes, rather than amend them. Perhaps I was comparing it too much to an incredible book I finished recently, "Small Miracles" by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal. In that book, practically every story moved me deeply. However, much as I love chocolate, the "Chocolate" stories were a disappointment.

All I have to say is: read the story about the waitress and the pilot.... it's a true story and will have you believe in love, even if you are a total skeptic just like me who calls love a form of psychosis.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Kim Champion

Many years ago, my uncle owned a restaurant at a small airport in Illinois. My mother was the assistant manager and I was the hostess. One afternoon, my mother and I went to a diner for lunch. Our waitress, Debbie, was so sweet that we took an immediate liking to her, and my mother offered her a job at my uncle's restaurant on the spot. Debbie accepted.

We invited her to our home for dinner that evening and during our conversations with her, we learned that she had never married and that she had no boyfriend. She told us that five years before while on a flight back east, she met "her pilot" and that it was love at first sight.

She was very nervous as she was boarding the plane and the pilot was standing in the doorway greeting passengers. He must have noticed how afraid of flying she seemed, and he struck up a conversation with her. They spoke less than ten minutes, and he assured her he would fly her safely to her destination. She told us it was "love at first sight," and we told her there was no such thing. Although she never saw her pilot again, she never forgot the feeling she had in her heart when their eyes met.

Mother and I had a plan. Since she was so in love with her pilot, we decided to fix her up with one of the many single pilots that came into the restaurant to eat in between flights. We approached John, one of the pilots, and told him about Debbie. He agreed to meet her for a dinner date on one of his nights off.

We sat him at a nice table with candlelight and fresh flowers. When Debbie arrived, we walked her to the table to introduce her to her date. As we approached, Debbie stopped dead in her tracks, tears welled up in her eyes, her hand went to her heart, and though I couldn't believe what I was hearing, she said, "My pilot, it's my pilot!" He stood dumb struck and embraced her.

We later learned that he, too, had fallen in love with "his passenger" five years ago on that flight back east.

The last we heard from Debbie was in a letter from Guam. When people tell me there is no such thing as love at first sight, I tell them this story and show them the photo Debbie enclosed with her letter, a photo of her family, her husband, John, in his pilot's uniform and their two beautiful daughters.

Just wonderful! I connected with so many of the stories. I enjoyed it immensely.

I really enjoyed Chocolate for a Woman's Spirit. Once again the author delivered heart-warming and delicious stories to fill my soul. I can't wait for more.

These are stories I savor at night, just before turning out the light. There is so much to be learned from these women about living, inspiration, listening to spirit, hearing our intuition, taking new paths, shifting perspectives to create miracle.