As I begin to tell my friends about the seven days you treated my wife, Laura, in what turned out to be the last days of her young life, they stop me at about the 15th name that I recall. The list includes the doctors, nurses, social workers, and even cleaning staff members who cared for her.

     “How do you remember any of their names?” they ask.

     “How could I not?” I respond.

    Every single one of you treated Laura with such professionalism and kindness and dignity as she lay unconscious. When she needed shots, you apologized that it was going to hurt a little, whether or not she could hear. When you listened to her heart and lungs through your stethoscopes(听诊器)and her gown (长衫)began to slip, you pulled it up to respectfully cover her. You spread a blanket when the room was just a little cold and you thought she'd sleep more comfortably that way.

    You cared so greatly for her parents, helping them climb into the room's awkward recliner(躺椅), fetching them fresh water almost by the hour, and answering every one of their medical questions with patience.

    Then there was how you treated me. How many times did you walk into the room to find me sobbing, my head down and resting on her hand, and quietly go about your task, as if willing yourselves invisible? How many times did you help me set up the recliner as close as possible to her bedside? How many times did you check on me to see whether I needed anything, from food to drink, from fresh clothes to a hot shower.

    Really, I have all of you to thank for it with my eternal gratitude and love.

    I grew up with a fat dad 450 pounds at his heaviest. Every week he would try a new diet, and my family ended up eating whatever strange food he was trying at that moment.

    After my third-grade year, my dad landed a life-changing job in Manhattan. My mom, my little sister and I had to move away from our hometown, Chicago, and leave my grandmother and her beautiful food behind.

    Leaving my grandmother was far more frightening than the move to New York City.  There would be no more special weekends at my grandmother's house, the only place I can remember feeling happy, safe and nourished (有营养的). It was what I desired. In this new city, I felt extremely alone and lost, and I missed my grandmother terribly.

    My grandmother knew just how I felt. And she knew the cure. Every week, she would send me a card with a$ 20 bill, a recipe and a list of what to buy at the market. It kept us bonded, and her recipes filled my body and soul.

    Over the years, I have grown to better understand my father's struggles with weight and the toll (代价) it took on him and those who love him. I have come to realize he was driven not by vanity (自负) or selfishness as much as by a deep pain, I  And in spite of growing up in such an unhealthy eating environment ( or perhaps be-cause of it), as an adult I found a passion and a career as a nutrition consultant.

    Today, my father weighs 220 pounds and is a vegan(素食者). How he got there is a story I hope to share in the coming weeks. More importantly, food is no longer a barrier that keeps us apart, but a bridge that keeps us connected. There is nothing my dad enjoys more than talking with me about dietary theories and his weightloss victories. And now I am the one regularly sending recipe cards to my father s house, just as my grandmother did for me.

Yawning（哈欠）sends out certain messages—either “Oh, this movie is boring" or "I probably need to get some sleep". But did you know that a yawn can also help your brain to cool down when it is so overheated?

    A new study, led by a research team of Princeton University, has indicated（表明）that yawning could be the brain's natural way of regulating temperature. People yawn more often when the temperature outdoors is lower than their body temperature but are less likely to yawn when it is hotter outdoors, according to Sciencedaily.com.

    The research team did an experiment on 160 people, 80 in summer and 80 in winter, to examine how often they yawned at different air temperatures. The study found that people yawned more often in winter than in summer. Scientists say that when the air temperature is lower outside the body, there is heat exchange between the overheated brain and the cool air. But when the air temperature is higher than or equal to the body, people are less likely to yawn because the hot air they breathe in will make the brain even hotter.

    When people yawn, their jaw is also stretched, which increases blood flow and may also help cool the brain.

    The study showed that the amount someone yawned could be related to the amount of time they spent outside. The longer they spent outside in summer, the less they yawn. Nearly 40 percent of participants yawned within their first five minutes outside, but after that the percentage was reduced to less than 10 percent.

    However, the result was the opposite in winter. The number of people who yawned increased when they spent more than five minutes outdoors. But the change was only slight compared to summertime.

    According to Gallup, this is the first report to show that yawning frequencies(频率) change depending on season. This could help us to understand better the way our brains work. It may also help us understand the reason why frequent yawning can sometimes be a sign of brain disease.

    My daughter Alisa was born blind in her right eye and was bullied (欺侮）pretty severely in school. So I quitted my job as a babysitter and then schooled my daughter heart and soul at home.

    A year ago a boy of 14 befriended my daughter on Facebook after reading something Alisa wrote about bullying. Today he messaged her and asked if she would like six tickets to a Colorado Rockies baseball game. They have never met in person but she said, “Sure! That would be great.”

    Then I received a call from his mother explaining why her son had chosen my daughter. She said he thought my daughter deserved them because of all the good she does in the community. Her son, she explained, had experienced a similar situation and was also home schooled.

    What she said is true. Now my daughter Alisa continues to teach groups of girls in trouble in our community how to look within themselves for the positive and how to be their own person.

    Everything taken into consideration, we decided to meet the mother and the boy at a local bike shop. After meeting, the boy approached my car and my daughter gave him a hug and thanked him for his generosity. She told him that she had never been to a baseball game and that she was going to take her entire family, including myself, her dad, little sister, her cousin and an aunt who has brain cancer.

    We all thanked one another, got in our car, and went our way. As we drove home my daughter opened the envelope. Inside it were the tickets and ＄100 each to buy hot dogs, pay for parking and not have any worries but a great time.

    My daughter has always been the giver and now she and our family are the receivers and I can not tell you how incredibly honored we feel to be on the other end. What an incredible young man to have such a kind idea.

    One recent night, while I was leafing through its pages of an old journal, my eyes met a quote by the British writer Graham Greene that I had marked. “A prejudice had something in common with an ideal.” In other words, ideals general descriptions of people's expectations of themselves and others can often lead us to unreasonable ideas. It got me thinking about how we often allow ourselves to generalize about groups of people. We like to stereotype people by the color of their skin, the year of their birth or any other related factors.

    I grew up in a multi-racial corner of America. The different groups were often subject to narrow stereotypes: Jewish people were “greedy,” Mexicans were “poorly educated,” and Asians were “good at math.” These labels were taught to us from a young age. They wormed their way into our belief systems, harming how we came to see others. It made me sad growing up to see people repeat these stereotypes as if they were true. The rush-to-judgment of people breeds a culture of discrimination (歧视).

    You can also see these over-generalized description being made against today's Chinese people. Whether it be a lack of interest or worry among millennials (千禧一代) being described as “monkish,” or “dad-fashion (复古作风)” which has given the “greasy middle-aged men” tag, stereotypes always seem to gain a foothold in the consciousness of our society. But these generalizations do real harm as these myths may become part of the wider population.

    It's about time that we, as a society, walked away from generalizations and stereotypes. I leave you with the words of Martin Luther King Jr. from his famous “I Have a Dream” speech: “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” By reserving judgment and really getting to know the individual, you might just find your irrational ideas have no foundation.

VAZOnepwr Blade 5 Dual

Cordless Blade 5 is a great one for sheer suction(吸力) power. It's easy to use it under furniture and it works well on all surfaces. The dust tank holds 0.7 litres and it comes with two batteries for 90 minutes of charge. If you're on a budget, the Blade 4 is a good option (now£250,from£450;vax. co.uk)

MIele Complete C3

At 890W, this corded vacuum is "exceptionally powerful" and its "Air Clean" filtration traps even tiny particles. It has a 12m radius(半径) and comes with three tools, stored in the body(£219;miele.co.uk)

Shark CZ500UKT Duo Clean

This 880W corded vacuum has remarkable suction power. It can switch between cleaning carpets or hard floors, and has an anti-hair-wrap brush roll and an LED light to show up dust (£330; sharkclean.co.uk)

Dyson Ball Animal Multi-floor

Unusually easy to move or turn skillfully thanks to its responsive rollerball, this bagless vacuum delivers strong suction and is great for getting up pet hair. A bit heavy at 7.4kg, it has a ten-metre cord and 3.5-litr e caddy, which ejects at the touch of a button (£380; dyson.co.uk)

Henry HVR 160-11

A long-standing favourite, the Henry is famously strong and great value. It has a large six-litre dust bag, and packs 620W of power. Its cord is a generous ten metres, and it has a long 2.2m hose, which is useful for cleaning up high and under sofas (£130; myhenry.com).