The Things You Would Have Said: The Chance to Say What You Always Wanted Them to Know

Friends fall out of touch, we run out of time, or sometimes our courage simply fails us―and thank-yous, regrets, feelings, and secrets are left unshared. In 2009, Jackie Hooper came up with a way to help people recapture a moment that had once passed them by. She began asking them to write letters that answered one question: If you had another chance, what would you do differently?

Based on the popular blog The Things You Would Have Said, this captivating collection of letters presents the moving, surprising, and inspiring stories of ordinary people. From the everyday to the profound, at times heartwarming, funny, sad, and wise, these voices range across lifetimes and even across history: an indignant young boy urges his bully to become “a better man”; an old man thanks the woman who protected his family from Nazis during the Holocaust; the mother of a boy with autism atones for the times she picked on an autistic classmate back in high school.

Compelling, cathartic, and achingly honest, The Things You Would Have Said is a journey through the lives of people who have learned that there is always a second chance.

Jackie Hooper is the creator of The Things You Would Have Said project and blog. She is a life coach, a motivational speaker, and continues to run www.wouldhavesaid.com. She lives with her fiancé in Portland, Oregon.

Joyce Bean is an Audie Award winner, and has four Audie Finalist medallions to her credit. She has also won multiple Earphone Awards as well as a Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award. Joyce has worked as a television news producer, writer, actor, and audiobook director as well as voice talent. She lives in West Michigan.

Fred Stella has worked as an actor and voice talent in radio, TV, independent films, the web and audiobooks. Fred was awarded the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award for Best Male Narration in 2002. He makes his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is on the adjunct faculty staff of Muskegon Community College.