I was required to read one of Bernie Siegel's books in college and was hooked on his positivity from that moment on. The stories of his unconventional1 and the exceptional patients he wrote about were so  2 to me and had such a big  3 on how I saw life from then on. Who knew that so many years later I would look to Dr. Bernie and his CDs again to  4my own cancer experience?

I'm an ambitious 5, and when I started going through chemo (化疗) , even though I'm a very 6person, I

lost my drive to write. I was just too tired and not in the 7. One day, while waiting to go in for 8 , I had one 

of Dr. Bernie's books in my hand. Another patient9 what I was reading and struck up a conversation with me 10

he had one of his books with him as well. It  11that among other things, he was an eighty-year-old writer. He 

was12a published author, and he was currently 13on a new book.

     We would see each other at various times and 14 friends. Sometimes he wore a duck hat, and I would tell

myself, he was definitely a(n)15of Dr. Bernie. He really put a 16on my face. He unfortunately  last17 year due to 

his cancer,18 he left a deep impression on me and gave me the  19to pick up my pen again. I  20to myself, “If 

he can do it, then so can I.”

    Most people in school liked Gloria. So when she got sick, some boys 1 to visit her. But none of them wanted to 2 any money for a gift to bring along.

    Then Willie said, “We can 3 some flowers from a 4.”

    Gloria will not know 5 they come from, and the dead man will not 6 them.

    Everybody was afraid, 7 Willie. So he went alone and 8 some beautiful flowers. Then they went to Gloria's 9, and the boys acted as if the flowers were from all of them, but 10 did not mind.

    After their visit, Willie 11 the other boys, “It is a good thing that I was not afraid. Gloria 12 the flowers.”

    The other boys laughed. Gloria would not have liked the 13 if she had known they had come from a grave.

    That night, Willie was reading a book 14 his mother came into his room. “Willie, did you and other boys buy some flowers today 15 Gloria?” she asked. “There's a man 16 asking for you,” she added. “He says that you didn't 17 the flowers.”

    “What does he look 18?” Willie asked.

    “That's hard to say,” Willie's mother answered. “He is all 19 with mud.”

    Willie, all of a sudden, turned 20.

When Karen found another baby was on the way, she tried to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new 1 And day after day, night after night, Michael2 to his sister in Mommy's stomach.

    The pregnancy 3normally but illness arose during 4

Finally, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in serious condition and was taken to the intensive care unit at a Hospital in Tennessee.

    The days 5 by. The little girl got worse. The doctor said there was little hope. Be 6 for the worst. Karen and her husband contacted a cemetery about a 7 service.

    Michael, however, kept 8his parents to let him see his sister, “I want to sing to her.” However, kids are never allowed in Intensive Care.

Karen decided to take Michael whether the hospital9it or not. If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her 10 She dressed him in an oversized operation suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket.

    The head nurse 11him as a child and shouted, “Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed.”

The mother rose up strong in Karen and the usually mild-mannered lady 12 steel-eyed right into the head nurse's eyes, “He is not leaving until he sings to his sister.”

Then Karen 13Michael to his sister's bedside. He looked at the tiny baby losing the 14 to live. After a moment, the 3-year-old began to sing:

     “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.”

    Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. The pulse rate became15

    “Keep on singing, Michael,” encouraged Karen with 16 in her eyes.

“You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away.”

As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's 17 became smooth.

    “The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my 18”.

Michael's little sister began to relax.

    “Keep singing, Michael.” Tears covered the face of the bossy head nurse.

    “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.…”

    The next 19....the very next day...the little girl was 20 enough to go home.

    I wasn't prepared for the way I felt when my 18-year-old son, Dylan, left for Asia during his winter break.

    I was 1 the moment he first told my husband Michael and me that he wanted to use some of his 2 to travel around China. We were excited for him to explore the world. We told him that3 was one of the best ways to spend his money and the 4 will last a lifetime.

    On the morning of Dylan's departure, he5 a few more things into his bag. Before he and Michael 6to the airport, I yelled, “Be safe, and 7 when you arrive in Shanghai.”

    That night 8 he was flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, it hit me that Dylan was really on his9I woke hourly, each time 10the clock and counting the hours before he would land the following morning.11 my decision to let him go alone, I prayed，and thought about all the things that could go 12 Then I heard from him. The first text said he'd arrived. The second text said his luggage didn't 13 it.

    Feeling anxious, I madly attempted to 14 down his luggage. To search for lost baggage, I persuaded him to go back to the 15 and suggested he go to the airline's office. My efforts 16 All the while Dylan was texting me he was all right.

    After that, there was no more 17 about lost luggage. I knew that he'd figure it out, and that the life lessons would be18.

    Several days into the trip, Dylan sent a photo from Hong Kong. “I thought I could never study abroad anywhere but Europe19 I could definitely do it here.” his note read.

    And I was 20

    A boy from a farmer's family stopped from school due to poverty, and went back farming to1the family. When he grew up to 19 years old, his father died. After that, all the family2 him including his mother and grandma in sickness.

    At first, he 3a pool and wanted to feed fish. But others told him it couldn't be used to feed fish, but only to grow crops. What he could do was to cover the pool and thereafter he became a  4.

    Then he heard raising chickens was a way of making money.  He borrowed some money from relatives and  5  chickens.  6  a flood attacked the town, and after that all the chickens got sick and        almost  7. His mother could hardly 8  it and died in the gloom.

    He 9the businesses of making wine, fishing or even digging embrasures (炮眼) on the cliff for others.

    When he was 35, he had no wife, no money, but only lived in a house made from earth which would 10in any storm. But he still wanted to 11 . He borrowed some money to buy a truck. But when he   drove it on the road after a short while, he had an  12  and broke his leg. He became crippled. Everyone said he was  13 .

    But later he became a boss, who owned a capital of 200 million. Now lots of people know his past and his business experiences. A journalist made a(n) 14with him.

    “Why do you  15after so many failures?”

    He was sitting in front of a broad table and just had finished a cup of water. Then he held the16cup in hand and asked, “If I loose my hand, what will happen to this cup?”

    “Broken!” answered the journalist.

    He 17his hand and the cup fell to the floor, with a bang sound, but not 18.

    “Even if ten people were there they would believe it was broken. But, it isn't a(n)  19cup. It is made of  20.”

    When I first met my new parrot, Chico, his wings had been cut short and he was stuck on the earth just like us humans. When the weather turned nice, I would take Chico outside. I 1 him on a branch of a tree, hoping to make him happier. At first he seemed confused. He walked back and forth on the branch looking 2. He didn't even flap his wings in an /a 3 to fly. Somehow he knew he was incapable.

    One day Chico got especially excited. He paced back and forth and made an 4 amount of noise. Then all of a sudden he stopped and let out an even louder scream. He started 5 flapping his wings for the first time ever—then he lifted off the 6 like a space shuttle! I was amazed and 7. Little did I know his feathers had been growing back, and Chico had been waiting until the moment was ripe for 8!

    Two days later Chico returned. First I tried to 9 him back with food, but he would not come near me. Then I took his 10 and put it away—still he would not come. Finally, I made him a firm promise that I would let him out every day if the weather was nice as long as he did come back. 11, he flew onto my shoulder.

    From that day on, whenever the weather was good I would let him 12 early and he would fly around and be back before dark. The routine lasted for two months 13 suddenly Chico became 14. The vet said that he had been infected with a disease from the pigeons in the 15. Within a few days he died.

    I was very sad. The 16 crossed my mind that if I had not set him free to fly, he would be still alive. But what 17 is there in being a bird if you can't fly?

    Chico made his first 18 for freedom on a late Monday afternoon in April. When will you make yours? You too can take a 19 when the conditions are right, knowing you too, in your own way, were built to fly. If you don't set yourself free, what will be the 20 of your life?