The way Debby Simon remembers it, the first word she ever learned to say was probably “dog.”
It’s fitting for the Overland Park dog-lover, who always wanted a collie growing up.
So, when she reluctantly moved to the Kansas City area from Chicago with her husband Bob several years ago, he surprised her with a wrapped gift.
Inside was a box of puppy Mill-Bones, which was a little odd since the couple didn’t have a dog. But in the accompanying card, there was some cash and clear instructions to get a dog.
That’s how Shane joined the family.
Their next dog, Rhapsody, left quite an impression
After Shane passed away, her sons Benji and Alex pushed to adopt another dog into the family.
“They kept hounding me — no pun intended — that they wanted a dog,” Simon said.
So, in the early 1990s, they adopted a young Shetland Sheepdog called Rhapsody, who was nothing like Shane.
“He was the most neurotic dog you would ever meet in your life,” Simon remembers.
He left his mark on the house, literally. At one point, he managed to chew a small hole through the kitchen floor, which remains to this day. He also completely chewed the skirt off the front of their couch while the family was out for dinner one night.
“He was a troublemaker,” she said. “When they say they eat you out of house and home, this dog was going to eat the home.”
He was also sweet, Simon remembers fondly. After the family adopted Rhapsody, they welcomed their only daughter, Jorie. Rhapsody became fiercely protective of the little girl.
Rhapsody also could sense when someone needed a bit of love.
Once, when one of her sons was upset about getting cut from the baseball team and was hiding out in his room, she saw the dog follow him upstairs.
“I went upstairs to check on him a little later, and Rhapsody was on his bed, and he was sitting on his bed looking at a book or a comic book or something, and just petting the dog,” Simon said.
The many stories from Rhapsody’s life are what inspired one of Simon’s recent personal essays, which appears in a new “Chicken Soup for the Soul” devoted to tales of beloved pets.
How does a story end up in “Chicken Soup for the Soul?”
Authors who are interested in having their personal essays published in the popular “Chicken Soup for the Soul” anthologies must submit their work for consideration, Simon said.
On the Chicken Soup website, there is usually a list of topics the publishers are currently accepting entries for, as well as their deadlines. Would-be storytellers can submit their work online.
After that, editors will work with authors whose submissions were selected to hone a piece and catch any typos or grammatical errors.
As a bonus, Simon said authors who are published in each “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book get paid for their stories. She got $250 for her essay about Rhapsody.
Contributors also get 10 copies of the book their story appears in, which they can share with family, friends and loved ones.
Not the first family dog Simon has published about
Simon studied creative writing at the University of Arizona, but she spent much of her career working in advertising and public relations. Now that she’s retired, she’s gotten back into writing, which she describes as a lifelong interest.
She’s seen a few of her personal essays and stories published over the years, including another in a previous “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book about another family dog, named Daisy, a golden retriever the family adopted after Rhapsody passed away at age 16.
Simon has always had a preference for these kinds of anthology books full of several shorter stories. As a kid, she gravitated towards them for her nightly reading, which her parents let her do in the 30-minute window before lights out.
“I liked being able to read a story, beginning, middle and end,” she said. “No cliffhangers; I’d know what happened before I’d go to sleep.”
Now, as an adult, she still likes those kinds of books, and as a writer, she has leaned toward them, as well.
That’s why she likes “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” which continues to accept personal essays for the series of inspirational books that it’s been publishing for decades now.
“I love writing a personal essay, a story, something that happened to me that I’m willing to share as a storyteller to people I don’t know,” she said.
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