Students in high schools can be cruel and we certainly refer to a young man named Matt who was in my class. We laughed at him about his1. He was at least fifty pounds overweight.

    One day he sat near me in a2. Someone pushed him and he3on me and hurt my foot quite badly. With the whole class 4, I had to choose either5 it off or have a fight with him. I chose to fight in order to keep my 6.

I shouted, “ Come on, Matt, let's fight.” He said he didn't want to. But peer pressure(同伴的压力)7 him into the fight whether he liked it or not. He came toward me with his fists(拳头) in the air. With one8I bloodied(弄出血) his nose and the classroom became9. No one dared to say a word. Just then the teacher walked into the classroom, He saw that we were 10 and sent us out to the playground.

    He followed us with a11on his face and said, “I want you two boys to go out there and run that mile holding each other's hands.” The room broke into laughter. The two of us were12, but Matt and I went out to the track and ran our mile 13.

During the course of our run, I looked at him, with blood still flowing from his nose and his14slowing him down. It hurt me that here was a person, not all that different from myself. I no longer saw Matt as fat. It was amazing what I learned I was forced to go hand-in-hand with someone for only one mile.

    For the rest of my life I have never15 a hand against another person. I know it is wrong to do so.

    On Christmas Day, all family members gathered at our parents' home. No member had ever1Christmas Day with our mother and father. Only this year, things were2. Our father passed away on November 26th, and this was our first Christmas3him. Mother was doing her best to be glad, 4I could tell this was especially hard for her.

    A few months earlier, I had painted my parents. I'd planned to give them5Christmas gifts. While painting one day, my father came to visit me. I wanted to show him, but suddenly I realized I should give him a6. Yet something urged（促使） me to share this moment with him. He walked closer to appreciate（欣赏） the portraits（肖像）.Then he stepped back to eye them at a distance. Finally, with a tear7down one cheek, he said, "Look! How beautiful your mother is! Will you let me have them framed（镶框）? "

    Then one night in November the phone8, and I was told father passed away. I finally9to call about the portrait framing and thanked God my father had got a10 to see the pictures before he died. I was surprised when the shopkeeper told me my father had11and had the gifted wrapped（包装）.Even though we had lost father, everyone12to be cheerful. As I looked into my mother's sad eyes, I13to give her Daddy's and my gift. As she got rid of（去除） the wrap, there was a small card inside. With tear-filled eyes and a wide14, she said, "I knew Daddy would be with us on Christmas Day!"

    I read the words written by my father, "Mother: Our daughter 15me why I am so blessed（幸福的）. I'll be looking at you always—Daddy.

    I was born with a heart disease. As I grew up, parts of my heart started to1and I was often out of breath. So when I was eight, the doctors opened up my chest to2it. When they saw the state of my heart, they told my parents, "We don't expect him to3 the night. "I was in and out of a coma (昏迷)for three months. Every day the fact that I wasn't4 was a good thing.

    Finally, the doctors5I'd be better off at home—saying that I wasn't going to live long. But I carried on and had something close to a   6childhood. As a teenager, I began to7 heart failure again. But I was 8to go to college, become a manager and get married to Jo.

    I started my own9so I could work flexible(灵活的)hours, 10. Jo and I had two children: Josh and Liam. I11to keep a good standard of life for everyone, 12when I was waking up feeling sick every morning. By January last year, my heart failure was so13that I often couldn't walk more than a few yards.

    I was worried about not being around for my 14I had to explain to Josh that the call telling me an organ(器官)had been found could come any time and I'd be 15to hospital, perhaps before I could say goodbye. A few days later, the phone rang and Josh said, "Is that the doctor with your new16?"However, it was  17a salesman.

    May 4 was the day a transplant(移植)18was found. I was out of hospital within five weeks and within a few19, feeling much better. By October, I was taking part in a 30 mile bike ride.

    These days I spend a lot of time talking to kids with heart20. I want to support others who have had a hard time.