I work as a volunteer for the poor in Haiti. I decided to take my son Brain there for a week, hoping to educate(教育) him.

Before getting out, I told Brain this trip would be tiring and hard. For the first two days, he said almost nothing. Then on the third day, when we were climbing over high rocky mountains, he turned to me and smiled, “Really hard.”

    After that, a five-year-old girl, wearing a too large dress and broken shoes, followed Brain around. Later he said regretfully(遗憾地), “I wish I could speak French.” I was surprised that this was from a boy. He always hated French classes.

    One day, I was interviewing(采访) a woman villager for an article. By working hard, she had learned to read and write and became part of the leadership(领导层) of the village. That really touched my heart.

    Learning her story, Brain was greatly touched. His eyes were wet and there was love and respect(尊重) on his face. He finally understood the importance of my work. When leaving for home, Brain even offered(提供) to stay in as a volunteer. This trip was very meaningful.

C

    The Greens are Americans. They are now in Beijing. This is their first visit to China. They are going to stay(停留) in China for three months. They want to visit some big cities(城市) and villages. They want to learn some Chinese, too. Mr. Green is a driver. He likes to drive in Beijing. Mrs. Green is a school teacher. She is visiting a city school and a village school. Their daughter is a middle school student. She meets some Chinese students. They take a lot of pictures in China. When they are back in American, they are going to show the pictures to their friends. They want the American people to know more about China. 

    Many say their most painful moments are saying goodbye to those they love. After watching Cheryl, my cousin, watch her mother suffer for six months before dying, I think the most painful moments can be in waiting to say goodbye.

    Cheryl made the two-hour trip over and over to be with her mother. They spent long afternoons holding hands and sharing memories.

    Each time she kissed her mother before leaving, her mother would feel sad and say, “I'm sorry you drove so far and sat for so long, and I didn't stay up long to talk with you.”

    Cheryl would tell her not to worry. It didn't matter. But still her mother felt she had let her down and said sorry at each goodbye.

    “Mom, do you remember when I made the high school basketball team?” Cheryl's mother nodded.

    “You'd drive so far and sit for so long, and I never even left the bench to play. You waited for me after every game and each time I felt bad and said sorry to you for wasting your time.” Cheryl gently took her mother's hand.

    “Do you remember what you'd say to me?”

    “I would say I didn't come to see you play. I came to see you.” “And you meant those words, didn't you?”

    “Yes, I really did.”

    “Well, now I say the same words to you. I didn't come to see you talk. I came to see you.” Her mother understood and smiled as she fell asleep.

    Their afternoons together passed quietly into days, weeks, and months. To the last day they cared each other in silence, love given and received just by seeing each other.

    In the 1920s, the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants (服务生) to look after the passengers. Young men, or “stewards” helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers' bags but they did not provide food and drinks. But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the “stewardess”.

    Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn't want to work on a farm or marry a farmer. She wanted a more adventurous (冒险的) life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital and at the same time took flying lessons and got her pilot's license.

    Ellen was 25 years old when she first got in touch with BAT (Boeing Air Transport). She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man's world. Though women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot. But she had another idea. Most people were afraid of flying because flying was still not a very safe way to travel. There were often delays (延误), many crashes and the bad weather made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and BAT agreed.

    The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.

    At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early “stewardesses” had to be under twenty-five-year-old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was a hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and was paid $1 an hour.

    In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, “stewardesses” have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.