Try a Little Tenderness

A little tenderness goes a long way in heart-to-heart communication. It renews a right spirit and warms the hearts of all participants. Just a smile or a wave can make a good day for someone. Don't forget the hugs. The twenty-four chapters in this book provide examples of tenderness. Many of the chapters are devoted to family members. Other chapters are devoted to helping someone else, like neighbors.

In one of the chapters, Emily shovels snow off a neighbor's walkway, and Kevin, her brother, who is resting on a couch, gets an inner feeling to go help Emily. He approaches Emily with a tear in his eye, and they work together shoveling snow.

In several chapters, Emily and Kevin help a poor organ grinder and his little monkey. The organ grinder's house is more like a shack than a house. Emily and Kevin replace many sideboards on the exterior of the house and wallboard on the walls and ceiling inside the house. Emily and Kevin train five chimps to stand on one another's shoulders so that they are five chimps high with a paint can and brush in the hands of the top chimp. The bottom chimp moves sidewise, and when the topmost chimp is through painting his section, he hands the paint can and brush to the next chimp down. The top chimp then jumps down, and the remaining chimps continue this scenario until the entire house is painted.