Free Chicken Soup for the Soul 20th Anniversary Edition by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark, Heidi Krupp Page B

kind of upside-down thinking that has caused so many of our problems. The truth is that our wellbeing is dependent on our giving love. It is not about what comes back; it is about what goes out!
    ~Alan Cohen

I Know You, You’re Just Like Me!
    We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the
    Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.
    ~William Ewart Gladstone
    O ne of our closest friends is Stan Dale. Stan teaches a seminar on love and relationships called “Sex, Love and Intimacy.” Several years ago, in an effort to learn what the people in the Soviet Union were really like, he took 29 people to the Soviet Union for two weeks. When he wrote about his experiences in his newsletter, we were deeply touched by the following anecdote:
    While walking through a park in the industrial city of Kharkov, I spotted an old Russian veteran of World War II. They are easily identified by the medals and ribbons they still proudly display on their shirts and jackets. This is not an act of egotism. It is their country’s way of honoring those who helped save Russia, even though 20 million Russians were killed by the Nazis. I went up to this old man sitting with his wife and said, “Druzhba i mir” (friendship and peace). The man looking at me as if in disbelief, took the button we had made for the trip and said “Friendship” in Russian and showed a map of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. being held by loving hands, and said, “Americanski?” I replied, “Da, Americanski. Druzhba i mir.” He clasped both my hands as if we were long lost brothers and repeated again, “Americanski!” This time there was recognition and love in his statement.
    For the next few minutes he and his wife spoke in Russian as if I understood every word, and I spoke English as if I knew he would understand. You know what? Neither of us understood a word, but we surely understood each other. We hugged, and laughed and cried, all the while saying, “Druzhba i mir, Americanski.” “I love you, I am proud to be in your country, we do not want war. I love you! ”
    After about five minutes we said goodbye, and the seven of us in our little group walked on. About 15 minutes later, some considerable distance on, this same old veteran caught up with us. He came up to me, took off his Order of Lenin medal (probably his most prized possession) and pinned it to my jacket. He then kissed me on the lips and gave me one of the warmest, most loving hugs I have ever received. Then we both cried, looked into each other’s eyes for the longest time, and said, “Dossvedanya” (goodbye).
    The above story is symbolic of our entire “Citizen Diplomacy” trip to the Soviet Union. Every day we met and touched hundreds of people in every possible and impossible setting. Neither the Russians nor we will ever be the same. There are now hundreds of schoolchildren from the three schools we visited who will not be quite so ready to think of Americans as people who want to “nuke” them. We danced, sang and played with children of every age, and then we hugged, kissed and shared presents. They gave us flowers, cakes, buttons, paintings, dolls, but most importantly, their hearts and open minds.
    More than once we were invited to be members of wedding parties, and no biological family member could have been more warmly accepted, greeted and feted than we were. We hugged, kissed, danced and drank champagne, schnapps and vodka with the bride and groom, as well as Momma and Poppa and the rest of the family.
    In Kursk, we were hosted by seven Russian families who volunteered to take us in for a wonderful evening of food, drink and conversation. Four hours later, none of us wanted to part. Our group now has a complete new family in Russia.
    The following night “our family” was feted by us at our hotel. The band played until almost midnight, and guess what? Once again we ate, drank, talked, danced and cried when it came time to say goodbye. We