I sit outside of my daughter's nursery school classroom, patiently waiting for her. When the door opens, my daughter runs out with a broad smile. She 1 the excitement of school .

    “How was your 2?”I ask casually, while 3 wanting to hear every single detail. “It was so good, Mommy!” my daughter replies. That's it. That's all I 4.

    On the car ride home, I ask her a lot of questions. She answers me with a few words, but never goes into much 5. Usually she tells me that she wants to 6something else.

    It has only been a few weeks, but I still find it so 7 that my daughter has a whole morning in school without me. I 8 ask the teachers for details and I am often provided with the same 9 answers that my daughter gives.

    Now, three mornings a week, I close her classroom door behind me and she has her own 10. I am given some 11 of her days like apples glued onto paper trees and paint dirt under her fingernails.

    I know she 12 this privacy and the time to 13 a new environment and meet different kids. 14, I can't help but want to know about the details of her days. The ride home is the 15 time that she will provide me with some 16 about her morning.

    When we pull into the driveway, I change the 17 to something else. I am sure that my constant questions annoy her, so I try to 18 them to the car ride after school.

    I am 19 that my daughter doesn't quite know our driving route yet; she can't tell that I sometimes take the long way home, 20 we have those few extra minutes together.

    I never thought I'd be a “runner”. I was the girl who 1 slowest in the PE class. A few years ago, I was walking with a group of2 in the Race for the Cure, a 5KM race designed to 3 money for the fight against breast cancer4 one lady caught my 5.

    She was one of the weakest-looking women I've ever seen. She must have been close to seventy years old,6a T-shirt with the word “Survivor.” She was so small that it seemed as if she could even be  7by a swift wind. But she was running. And she was 8 me my group of friends. She ran slowly, but 9—as if each step pushed her cancer further into her past. Right at that moment, I 10that in the next Race for the Cure, I'd be running along with her.

    A week later, I found myself in the11, running on the treadmill (跑步机). Three minutes after I started, my face was bright red. I felt like my lungs were going to12. I had to slow down to a walk. I thought of the 13at the race. I kept it up. I was able to go a little  14 each time. Three and a half minutes. Four minutes. Five.

    A year later, I was 15 at the Race for the Cure, but this time, I 16 with the runners. When the race started, the other runners passed me by. I ran forward. I wondered if I'd be 17 to do it. But then, I remembered the brave woman. I ran as fast as I could until I finally crossed that finish line. I had just 18 my first race! I looked down at my legs, 19. They had done something I'd never thought 20. I have never felt stronger than at that moment. And, I knew that I wanted to do it again.

    As I sat motionless on the steps of the pool, watching everyone else swim back and forth, I realized that I had spent most of my life watching others enjoy themselves. It was then that I 1 a little girl staring at me with a look of confusion. I smiled at her, hoping to 2 the ice by talking to her. Unfortunately, my 3 failed and she just kept on staring. My 4 increased as a little boy swam up to me and said, “I feel sorry for you.”

    After the 5, a thought struck me, I had to change 6 the world viewed me. Because it was children who stared at me the most, I decided to write a children's book that taught them about 7 in a fun way. This is when KatGirl, a super hero in a 8 who helps children that are being bullied, came into my mind.

    I quickly 9 inside my apartment and began creating the story. As I wrote each word, I could 10 my future as a world-renowned author and public speaker. My excitement 11 like wildfire. Over the next two years, the story 12 many changes before it saw the world in the spring of 2011. My perseverance 13 paid off.

    One day I was invited to speak to the students at a neighboring school. I confidently wheeled into a classroom filled with students who 14 at me just like the little girl in the pool. “How do you feel when you see me?” I asked them. The kids bravely 15 “I feel sorry for you.”

    I opened my book and started reading. Immediately I noticed the children's stares turned to 16.“How do you feel when you see me?” I asked again. Without 17 they replied, “You are so cool! Does your 18 fly too?” I just smiled, “No, not yet, but maybe some day.” I knew in my heart that this was 19. The past two years had proven to me that with 20 anything is possible.

    It's a sad reality that many of us find ourselves just too busy to contribute to our communities. For a long time, I, too, believed it cost too much in time, money and 1 to make a real difference. But all that changed when I 2 my good-deed-a-day project.

    My daughter, Emily, was my primary 3. I wanted to show her we could do little things to help others, and be 4.

    The first week, I wasn't sure if I could 5 it. I surfed the Internet for ideas. One day, I 6 a blind man in the subway station. He 7 as he thanked me. Another day, I brought flowers from my garden to a 8 nursing home… I could only hope I was arousing 9 in others.

    After just a few days, 10 I found it easier than I'd expected. I knew I was making a/an 11.

    Every evening at the dinner table, I 12 that day's good deed to Emily. Emily began 13 what I'd started. On a walk home from school, she 14 to a neighbour's pot of geraniums (天竺葵), which had toppled (摇晃) in the wind, and set it right. “That was my good deed for the day!” she yelled. Another day, she helped me collect 15 from our neighbours for the food bank. We dropped off the food and, 16 we drove away, Emily announced 17 that she wanted to work there one day.

    By the last week, I knew I'd changed. At first, I hadn't been entirely 18 that I could do a good deed every day. Now it was practically second 19. I felt a greater responsibility to take action when I saw a need, 20 looking the other way. I felt as though I'd awakened, somehow.

    I was late for the school bus and rushing to get ready. My dog, Tippy, got to the front door and lay down in front of it – his way of asking to be petted. I1his begging for affection (喜爱), hurdled(跨) over him and ran for the waiting bus.

    2, that afternoon, when I came home, Mom said to me3, "Honey, I have some4news that I need to tell you. This morning, while you were at school, Tippy was hit by a car and5 I'm so sorry."

    "No! It's not true!" I was6 I couldn't believe her. "Tippy, come here! Come on, boy!" I called and called for him. I waited. He didn't come. Feeling7, I wandered into the living room. I didn't cry that night. I still couldn't believe that he was8.

    When I got off the bus the next day, there was dead silence at home.9 my sobs (哭泣) bubbled up and erupted (喷发) like lava (熔岩) from a volcano. I couldn't stop10. I hadn't even petted him when I left.11could I have known that was my last chance? I cried until I felt empty inside.

    Time passed, and against my will, I started to12some things. I realized what little control any of us have over what happens 13 a dog. We can do everything right, but14things can still happen. But good things can happen too. That's15. The best way to 16 the hard times is to figure out what you need to do to get through them when they come, and to remember that hard times always17.

    I now deeply understand the "circle of life". Everyone is born, everyone18, and that's the way it is. If dogs never died, there would be no19for others like Belle – my new dog.

    Best of all, I realized that Tippy20all of my good memories of him. And they come to me every time I call!

A lot of people admired our neighbor. One day a delivery truck unloaded a large 1 system at their house. And the kids discussed the new sound equipment my neighbor had just bought. Meantime, we were living in a house decorated 2 and dressing our kids in second-hand clothes. We lived a 3 life. 

My poor mother-in-law, in town for a visit, got to hear my complaints that night. "I feel so 4 sometimes," I told her, as we 5 the table after dinner. "I know we're doing the right thing, living frugally (节俭的), saving money, but it feels so hard. There're so many things I'd like to 6 , so many things I'd like to do, but we just can't."

She 7 as she folded a cloth napkin in silence. Then she turned to me and said, "When you make a comparison between yourself and others, it's easy to 8 what you don't have. But there's one thing you two do that many other couples may 9 to do. You two often go out together and take time to focus on your 10 . And that's a very important thing."

I stopped wiping the table and 11 for a minute. I thought of the movie my husband and I had seen a week earlier. I 12 the bike rides, the hikes and the picnics. Most of all, I remembered how 13 we were together, even after twenty years. How many people can say that? 

I looked around my home in a new 14 . Our refrigerator was too small for a family of six, but it was 15 filled with delicious food. Our kitchen was small and we had no big TV, but we're happy! And that's enough!