My first full time job after high school was selling vacation packages via telephone for a well-known company. One day, the dialer 1me to a man who answered the phone and2a bit out of breath. I started with my normal pitch（推销), and3to hear the normal, "I don't want any," and be hung up on.

    Instead he spoke in a low, weak voice and told me how he wished he could take a4like the one I was offering, but couldn't5he was dying of emphysema (肺气肿). He 6how he was on oxygen, and it took almost all his7just to get to the phone to answer the call. I8 and my heart fell into my stomach. He asked me if I smoked, which I did, and then begged me to stop. He told me smoking is 9was killing him, and how horrible it was. He told me to 10every day with my loved ones, and tell them all the time how much I love them. At this 11, I was in tears, and couldn't control myself, and he could tell.

    After a few moments, I decided to write down his name and 12, and just send him a card telling him that I13his advice and that I would pray for him and his family. Shortly after, I received a nice letter back from Frank, along with a picture of him and his wife. We continued to write back and forth over the next few months or so, and became very 14of each other. He was old enough to be my grandfather, and in many ways, I felt 15he were.

    It was about a year later I received a letter from his wife, and when I started to read it, my eyes were filled with tears. She told me how Frank's 16with the disease had finally come to an end, and he 17shortly before Christmas .She wanted to thank me for the letters I had written to Frank, and then explained how Frank touched many lives over the years. At his 18  to show just that, they read the 1st letter I had written to Frank to show how he 19a 19-year- old person he had20even met.

    I will never forget how much that meant to me.

    As my husband, Doug, stood on the busy New York city street trying to stop a taxi, I tried to protect my daughter from the cold December wind and rain. I put my head down to kiss her tiny face.

    1and wet, my husband gave up his attempt to flag down a taxi. I knew the2. Just after her first birthday, we were told our daughter Katie has a3 brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept4. We knew Katie was running out of 5It had taken months before we finally had a name for the 6 but we were told only a few of specialists in the world knew how to7 it. Now, as we finally found a brilliant doctor to8 our girl, we were in a strange 9in the cold rain.

    Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, “Pardon me? May I offer you a(n)10?” Before we could say anything, she continued, “It's really no11 for me. Just get in.”It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent, which 12 me up like hot soup. We simply said, “Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital,  please,” as we got in her car for the ride.

    “Are you going 13 the baby?”she asked us. I nodded my head, holding back my.14. At the hospital, we 15her a dozen times for the ride. As the woman hugged me, I16her face was wet with tears. She promised to17 for us before she left.

    After three more visits to New York and two more 18 operations, Erica is cured. But the19 of the Irish Angel still rang as a constant reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our20 days.

    During the war, my husband was stationed at an army camp in a desert in California. I went to live there in order to be 1 him. I hated the place. I had never 2 been so unhappy. My husband was ordered out on a long-term duty, and I was left in a tiny shack(棚屋) alone. The heat was 3 — almost 125°F even in the shade of a cactus(仙人掌). 4 a soul to talk to. The wind blew non-stop, and all the food I ate, and the very air I breathed, were 5 with sand, sand, sand!

    I was so sorry for myself that I wrote to my parents. I told them I was 6 and coming back home. I said I couldn't stand it one minute longer. I 7 be in prison! My father answered my 8 with just two lines — two lines that will always sing in my 9— two lines that completely changed my life:

Two men looked out from prison bars,

One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.

    I read those two lines 10. I was ashamed of myself. I made up my mind I would find out what was good in my present 11； I would look for the stars.

    I made friends with the natives, and their 12 amazed me. They gave me presents of their favorite artworks which they had 13 to sell to tourists. I studied the delightful forms of the cactus. I watched for the desert sunsets, and 14 for seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when the sands of the desert had been an ocean 15.

    What brought about this 16 change in me? The desert hadn't changed, 17 I had. I had changed my 18. And by doing so, I changed an unhappy experience into the most amazing 19 of my life. I was excited by this new world that I had discovered.  I had looked out of my self-created prison and 20 the stars.

    In most people's eyes, I was a golden girl when I was eighteen years old： I was president of the college drama society, a member of the student senate and so on. I was the1of all my friends and I was in a state of 2 .

    The old Greek tragedies3us that when pride rises, punishment falls. My universe4 with great suddenness when the scenery(舞台布景道具）fell on my head and I was left almost5for the next four months.

    My memory was in a mess and within a few months all my 6 were taken away. I was even told that I would have to leave the college at the end of the spring term7clearly, I couldn't do academic work.”

    Sad, I took one last 8by Dr. Jacob Taubes. He was the most brilliant teacher I had ever 9and in his class, I began to raise a tentative 10 and ask an occasional question. He would answer with great intensity, and soon I found myself asking 11 I questions constantly.

    One day I was walking to the bus when I heard Dr. Taubes12me,” Miss Houston, let me walk with you. You know, you have a most 13mind.”

“Me? 1 have a mind?”

    “Yes, of course.” Then he asked my understanding of some problems discussed in the classes. From that day on, Dr. Taubes continued to 14 me to the bus, always15 me with intellectually vigorous questions. Within several weeks my eyesight came back and my spirit 16 .

    Though what I acquired from the accident was a 17 sense of life, I remain deeply 18 for the attention Dr. Taubes had shown. He 19 me when I most needed it. I swore then that I would try to 20 and acknowledge the unlucky person as I had been acknowledged.

    From the first week of high school, my best friend, Trisha, was always going out with the popular girls.1I thought, "It's okay; she's just making new friends." But soon I realized that Trisha wasn't interested in me anymore. I'd 2my best friend. It really hurt.

    One day, I told Trisha that we should 3  pretending（假装）to be friends when we really weren't anymore. I wasn't trying to make her mad, 4 she was. After that, Trisha started talking about me behind my back, telling people that I was 5.Some of our friends 6 with her. I felt like she was taking them away from me.

    The more I thought about it, the 7 I got. Finally, I 8a picture of Trisha and drew lines on her face. I wrote, "I  9 this person" across the bottom. And then I did something I'll always 10 : I put it on a website I thought was 11. I thought people would see it, and it felt good to vent(发泄).

    A week later, Trisha's mom saw the 12.She called my mom, who made me take it off the website right away. However, it was already too 13 .Lots of people had seen it, and I was in a lot of 14.

    That whole day, I felt 15 .I had to say sorry to Trisha face to face. She said she accepted my apology（道歉）,but I felt she was 16 angry with me.

    Posting that picture was one of the worst 17 I've ever made. I realize now I could have found a much better way to deal with my 18 .If I'd just told Trisha how much I 19 her, maybe things would have turned out 20. It's too late for me to change things, but I hope you'll learn from my mistake.

I always miss Grandma. Settled in the armchair, I often find myself 1  by the fond memories of my grandma. Her influence was as gentle as a summer breeze(微风), yet 2 . 

" Love, " she would say, " is the most 3  force in the world. " Her words were not just a lesson but a 4  light that led me through life's journey. She taught me to love 5 , to give selflessly, and to always find joy in the simple things. She effortlessly wove(编织) those 6  into the fabric of my being. 

Now, as I sit with my grandchildren, their eyes wide with 7 , I find myself recounting the  8  Grandma told me. I show them how to take care of the garden that Grandma once lovingly  9 , where each plant holds a tale of patience and growth. We bake cookies together, just as I did with Grandma, and I 10  as they embrace the joy and affection baking brings. 

The emotion of 11  swells in my heart as I realize the legacy(遗产)I now carry. Grandma's wisdom went beyond time, connecting generations and 12  the gap s that life presents. It's a legacy that I'm proud to 13  to my grandchildren. In this way, the love of a grandma becomes a timeless(永恒的)14 . 

As they grow, I hope they will remember the stories, the lessons, and the love. And one day, when they become 15  themselves, they will still remember the unique legacy of our family.