NEW BERLIN – Readers who find encouragement in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series will be proud to hear of local writer and inspirationalist Danielle Cattanach, who has been honored to have her influential story, “Dad’s Dance” published in the latest addition to the series, “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Answered Prayers.”

Cattanach, a New Berlin resident, was moved to hear that the story of her father’s passing would be published. Her uplifting thoughts of hope and encouragement have gotten her through tough times, she said, and have given her the ability to seek beauty in even the darkest, most despairing of times.

“To find some sort of beauty, even in death can be hard,” she said.

Cattanach’s story recalls the struggle she went through as her father lay fatally ill in a Tennessee hospital, hundreds of miles from where Cattanach had been living in New Jersey. However, where most prayers ask for healing in such a traumatic situation, Cattanach instead chose to ask for her father’s deliverance from pain. Though her love for her father was unrestrained, she said she understood the circumstances and wanted the agony to disappear, even if it meant finally parting with him forever.