My mom died when I was two years old. She died in an accident when 1to visit her parents. I was in the backseat, and I wasn't 2.I don't remember anything about her.  The only few things I know are from the 3my dad tells me. I 4 with only my dad and myself. I love my dad, but sometimes it was 5, like being in elementary school when Mothers'day was coming, kids would decorate cards, and so on. To make it6, there was  “tea party with mom ” day for 2^nd and 3^rd grade when kids and their7would come during the school day and have8 and snacks. Except that my dad would let me9 those days, we would do something 10together like going to Disneyland. I never exactly felt 11 even though I didn't have a mom.

    My dad worked very hard. My mom died right as he 12from Harvard law, and he tried to be both a good13 and a great dad ,but also he tried to play both14 as dad and mom . I remember all the other girls in my 2^nd grade class had hair braided (辫子), and I15 that too. So my dad would braid my hair every morning before 16. It makes me smile just to17it.

    I think about not having mother occasionally, and18 it does bother me ,like the 19that on Mothers' day my dad and I visit my moms' grave , and bring her20 yellow roses .

    Maybe I don't have exactly what I want, but I have what I need .

I received a devastating（毁灭性的）blow to my self-confidence in the first interview of my college years. I1to be a host in our Student Acting Troupe and felt 2 that I would be accepted. But one of the panel members told me, "You seem inadequate and you are a little vertically（垂直地）challenged." My life has never been3 since. I used high heels to make up for my4and psychological strategies and tricks to5 my lack of confidence. But no matter how hard I tried to6 the part, there was still something 7.

    As president of English Club, I organized the rehearsal of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for an English party8 we could not find an actor to be the dwarf. It had to be someone who was humorous9and fluent in English. Suddenly, all eyes turned to me, and I knew I would have to be dwarf. To my surprise and delight, once 10I was totally11 in the performance and my humorous nature was put to full use. As the dwarf, I was a big12.

    Yes, each of us is only one among millions of people, but each of us is an individual and each of us is 13 Cultivating（培养）our individuality will 14 our life, making it a kaleidoscope（万花筒）of new colors and textures.

    A world lacking 15would be a boring place. The real16 is not being short or shy or ugly, but having your17 lost in a world in which everyone is a (n)18 of a model, a cool boy or a flawless charming girl.

    Given a choice, I would rather be19than live in such a world. I'd rather be a genuine dwarf accompanying a Snow White than be a Snow White among nothing but Snow Whites. I would rather be myself. I would20 my individual and unique colors to the more diverse universe. Please, be yourself!

    I was a single mother of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always1, but we had a roof over our heads, food on the table, 2on our backs. It was Christmas time, we3 downtown to see the Christmas lights, and enjoyed a special dinner, 4 the big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas 5 at the market. They talked and planned for weeks ahead of time, 6 each other what they wanted for Christmas.

    The big day arrived and we started out early. I 7 each kid a twenty-dollar bill and asked them to8for presents. Then everyone scattered (散开).

    Back in the car driving home, everyone was9 about Christmas, laughing and asking each other about what they had10 . I found my younger daughter, Ginger, had only one small and flat bag with her. I could 11 enough through the plastic 12 to tell that she had bought candy bars— fifty-cents candy bars！ What did she13 with that twenty-dollar bill I had given her? I was so 14. After getting home, I called her into my bedroom and closed the door. This was15 she told me.

    "I was looking around and thinking of what to buy, and I 16 to read the little cards on one of the Salvation Army's 'Giving Trees'. One of the cards was 17a little girl, four years old, and all she 18 for Christmas was a doll with clothes and a hairbrush. So I took the card off the 19 and bought the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn't have anything."

    My anger 20 and I had never felt so rich as I did that day.

    In mid-January the weather stayed clear and cold for several days. Jess had to 1 a week of school to stay home and2 his father to manure（给……施肥） the fields. This was his bad3, for he would have to make up his lessons as best as he could. It wasn't4, though. All the boys and girls at Pumpkin Hollow School were often kept home when they were needed.

    Jess5 manuring, but he couldn't get out of it. Filling the wagon（马车） with heavy manure was a tiring 6. With a full load（装载）, his father drove over the fields; Jess stood in the back and spread the manure.

    After several days at this job, both Jess and his father grew7 and impatient. It seemed as though life was too8 to stand. They fell into bed at night worn out, with nothing to 9 but another day of the same hard work. Jess was even 10with it. "Why does brother Ben stay in a warm prison while I myself tried to do his work？ It's 11!" Jess thought.

    His mother watched him 12. "You're looking thin," she said. Then she turned to Jess's father and said," Joseph, couldn't we hire（雇）somebody to help13the manuring is done？"

    Mr. Wright didn't 14, and Jess guessed why. His father couldn't15 to hire a man. The hundred dollars he had paid for Ben's fine had wiped out the family's savings. Jess said, "No, Ma, we don't 16 to hire anybody. Pa and I can manage.17 I'm tired, and so is Pa. We'll18 it in a few days."

    The19 look his father gave him for understanding the problem was reward enough. When they went to the fields and were silently working together, Jess was 20 he'd spoken up.

    It was many years ago. I was a1father on my way home to my wife and baby boy after spending all day2college classes. I had gone back to school to get a degree in education. I wanted to secure a3job that would help me to build a better life for my growing family. It was a two-hour round trip to the4, so every day I would pray for my 20-year-old car to5it all the way.

    As I started down a lonely stretch of highway about 12 miles from my home I6a car parked along the side of the road with its emergency flashers7. A small woman was struggling to8a flat tire. This was long before the age of cell phones9I knew that any other help might not arrive for a while. I10behind her car and offered to give her a hand. Her own hands were bruised(擦伤的)and11from struggling with the lug nuts(四方螺帽)and she had tears of frustration in her eyes. The lug nuts were rusty(生锈的)and12and the lug wrench(单向扳手)a little small, but after a while I got the flat off and the13tire on. As I said goodbye the little lady hugged me with tears of14this time. I waved and drove off a little embarrassed at her15. After all, it had just been one kind act.

    It took me a lot of years after that to learn the true16of one kind act. One kind act can change the world. One kind act can teach more17than a million words. One kind act can save a lost soul and heal(治愈)a18heart.

    Never pass up the possibility of using your own19to make this world a better place. Every day we are given the choice to be20or kind. Always choose to be kind.