It was still a long way, especially when a wind was blowing in. Trint reached for his jacket and 1  when he saw the box on the passenger seat. His mother had been 2  him spending Christmas on the road  3 and had given him a box filled with 4. His mum still 5 him like a kid, though he was a driver now. He reached into the stocking and 6 a toy truck that looked a lot like his truck. He wondered how many stores his mother had to go before she found such a close match.   7 filled his eyes.

He climbed out of his cab(驾驶室) and ran into the all­night cafe,  8  which many truckers were eating and talking. And a family of three were huddled(挤在一起) in a corner, tired and 9.

Trint  10  the boy. No kid should have to spend Christmas Eve in a truck stop.

Trint missed his family. His mum raised four kids by herself,  11 no matter how 12  life was, she'd always make sure they had a good Christmas. Then he 13  his box in the truck.

He looked at the kid again and knew what he had to do. He forced himself into the 14outside to open his truck. He took the 15 out of the cab and hurried back to the warmth of the cafe. He walked to the family. “I think  16  left this for you，” Trint said and handed the red stocking to the boy. “Tell Santa…well, tell him 17 ， ” the boy's father said and shook Trint's hand long and hard. The mother smiled gratefully. The boy  18  reached out and caught the stocking and dug inside.

Trint felt good. He had a job he loved, clear weather and miles of open roads ahead. He wasn't  19  any more, or lonely. He loved this life and he wouldn't 20 a thing.

　  All my life people have told me that I was bright and that I had a lot of potential. I usually did really 1in school and I even got a scholarship to a really good2 ． The only thing that I wasn't good at was 3friends. I was so shy that I had a hard time talking to people.I just didn't 4anywhere.

      Then it all changed.I started 5classes, getting into trouble and then I was6out of college. I started7with the other kids I grew up with that didn't have the same8I had.We lived in poor neighborhoods and we had no idea how much our 9couldaffect our future.We weren't kids anymore and the only thing we 10was the streets. I was looking up to the11people and I couldn't even recognize myself12 ． Tomake a long story short, I went to prison.Twice. I 13thought I would make it to see my family again, 14I did.

        Now I'm with my 15 ． I never cried through any of it, not even when I was in the hospital or in16 ． I suddenly felt so17to be home. My heart finally opened up and that 18of being abandoned was gone.All I want to do now is give to other people the19way I know now.Just decide who you want to be 20someone else decides foryou.

Netes：

potentialn ． 潜力

      At thirteen，I was diagnosed (诊断) with a kind of attention disorder.It made school difficult for me.When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks，I could not.

      In my first literature class，Mrs.Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it，all within 45 minutes.I raised my hand right away and said，“Mrs.Smith，you see，the doctor said I have attention problems.I might not be able to do it.”

     She glanced down at me through her glasses，“You are no different from your classmates，young man.”

     I tried，but I didn't finish the reading when the bell rang.I had to take it home.

     In the quietness of my bedroom，the story suddenly all became clear to me.It was about a blind person，Louis Braille.He lived in a time when the blind couldn't get much education.But Louis didn't give up.Instead，he invented a reading system of raised dots (点)，which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.

      Wasn't I the “blind” in my class，being made to learn like the “sighted”students？My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance.I completed the task within 40 minutes.Indeed，I was no different from others；I just needed a quieter place.If Louis could find his way out of his problems，why should I ever give up?

      I didn't expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs.Smith，so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day—with an “A” on it.At the bottom of the paper were these words：“See what you can do when you keep trying？”