A Thousand Happiness — Berta Lavan Barker

All her life, young Gayle Harvey had taken a back seat to her older sister Sandy. Her beautiful older sister. Bubbly, charming, Sandy was everything a girl could hope to be, while Gayle--she stood on the sidelines, watching life pass her by. When Gayle, who was working in a real estate office in San Francisco, received word that the only man she had ever cared about, Ted Bannister, had become engaged to Sandy, she was bitter and resigned. Wasn't that always the way?

So Gayle decided to leave California, to get away, and bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii aboard a cruise ship. The trip was wonderful until her purse, with all her money, identification, and credit cards, was stolen.

What could she do? She didn't want to wire home, didn't want anyone to know where she was and what had happened. Yet she knew no one in Hawaii, and had no one to turn to.

But people cared--complete strangers, to Gayle's amazement, offered help and suggestions. And handsome young Gary Seymour, a real estate broker, offered her something more tangible--a job in his Hawaiian office.

In her troubles, Gayle came to recognize that people could like her for what she is, without comparing her to someone else. And she learned that there is, in the words of a Japanese proverb, a thousand happiness, if only she could capture it.