When I was in the seventh grade, I was a volunteer at a local hospital in my town.Most of the 1 I spent there was with Mr. Gillespie.He never had any visitors and nobody seemed to care about his 2.

    I spent many days there holding his hand and talking to him,3 anything that needed to be done.He became a close friend of mine,4 he responded with only an occasional squeeze(捏) of my 5. Mr. Gillespie was in a coma(昏迷).

    I left for a week to vacation with my parents, and when I came back, Mr. Gillespie was 6. I didn't have the7 to ask any of the nurses where he was, for fear that they might8 me he had died.

    Several 9 later, when I was a senior in high school, I was at the gas station when I noticed a familiar face.When I10 who it was, my eyes filled with tears.He was 11! I got up the nerve to ask him if his name was Mr. Gillespie. With an uncertain look 12 his face, he replied yes.I 13 how I knew him and that I had spent many days talking with him in the hospital.His eyes welled up with tears, and he gave me the warmest hug I had ever 14.

    He began to tell me that15 he lay there comatose(昏迷的), he could hear me talking to him and could 16 me holding his hand the whole time. Mr. Gillespie17 believed that it was my voice and 18 that had kept him alive.

    Although I haven't seen him since, he fills my heart with 19 every day.I know that I made a(n)20 between his life and his death.

    I was getting ready to head to my daughter's college to bring her home for Christmas. The 1 was falling heavily and the land was silvered. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy drive.

    Usually a three-hour round2, but I knew it was going to be a lot 3 today as I slowed my car to 4 the slippery roads. Once I was on the road, 5 , conditioh9 only worsened. I 6 slowed down but four-wheel trucks sped past me 7 huge showers of slush (融雪) onto my windshield. During the last twenty miles I suddenly found myself behind a very  8   winter driver.9 driving slow and adjusting, when he hit a slippery spot he braked hard and turned sharply all over the road. 1 had to 10 hard myself to keep from hitting him but unfortunately slid into a ditch (沟).

    I tried pulling out again and again but could only hear  11  tires. I was half-way out in the road and a truck sped by me, missing the car by inches. I looked about the car 12 and miraculously the car started to move,13it was almost being pushed out of the ditch. From the driving mirror I spotted a 14 , covered with snow,15  my car as hard as possible. When I 16 my hand to greet him with gratitude, he17  signed me good luck, getting on his car.

    Just as a famous writer Henry 18 it, “He who walks in love may wander far. Yet God will bring him 19  the blessed are.” Wherever you go then and however20 your journeys may be, always remember that you are watched over by people with a love more powerful and more beautiful than you can ever imagine.

    My father was a self-taught mandolin player. He was one of the best string instrument players in our town. Dad loved to play the mandolin for his families, who enjoyed listening to his play and1the Tennessee Waltz, Hatbor nights, Silver Bells, and so on. Dad was always there,2his time and efforts to see that his family had3in their life. If he could give pleasure to others, he4especially his families. I had to mature into a man and have children of my own5I realized how much he had sacrificed.

    I 6 the United States Air Force in January of 1962. Whenever I come home on7I would ask Dad to play the mandolin. He could touch your soul with the 8 that came out of that old instrument. He seemed to 9when he was playing you could see his pride in his ability to play so well for his family.

    While working at Todd Steel, Dad was 10in an accident. He got the third index finger of his left hand 11 between two pieces of steel. The doctor who operated12the finger could not save it, and Dad ended up having the tip of the finger13. He didn't lose enough of the finger,14it wouldn't stop him picking up anything, but it did15his ability to play the mandolin.

After the accident, Dad would make16for why he couldn't play. We wore him down and17he said "Okay, but remember, I can't hold down on the strings18I used to".19 for the family it didn't make any 20that Dad couldn't play as well.

    I remember how hard the rain was in New York City one morning. It was as if pebbles(鹅卵石) were 1 from the sky. I was walking to the 2 and saw a little girl huddling（蜷缩）under her mom's arms, doing her best not to get 3. Our eyes met as her mom asked her to 4 as the light was about to turn red for them to walk across the street.

    I was feeling 5 and all of a sudden the rain was a shower of help as opposed to a problem. I offered my 6 to them and they were so overcome with the 7 that the mom offered me money. I 8 and said, “You just 9 the umbrella and give the money to your daughter 10she gets good grades.” The little girl 11 up and down and 12 her mom to take the umbrella. She did and we smiled. I told them to have a good dry 13 and I walked into the supermarket.

    I found the few goods that I needed and went to the checkout counter. But I noticed that the 14 was the longest I had ever seen. The woman who was next 15 that I had just a few items and 16 her place. I smiled and thanked her. I 17 my items and went home 18- and cooked one of the best breakfasts for myself as I watched the beautiful blessings of rain outside my 19. I love kindness; I will take and receive 20 everywhere I go.

    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.

Finding Home

    "I hate New Orleans! I wanna go home!" I 1 to my mother as we moved boxes. 2 , going home was not easy because my home was 1, 100 miles away.

    I was born and 3 in northern Virginia. Virginia was my home, and I never expected that to 4. In 2014, my family experienced a tragedy (悲剧), so my parents decided to move to my mom's hometown of New Orleans.

    Only three months after my parents made the 5 to move, I found myself moving boxes into our new house. My announcement to my mother that I 6 the new environment was partly motivated by how hot it was, but it was mostly due to the fact that I felt like my entire life had been turned upside down. 1,100 miles away from everyone and everything I had ever known, I was 7. To make matters worse, I was starting high school in two weeks Beginning high school is a scary 8 on its own.

    I spent my first few months in New Orleans, 9 wanting to go home to Virginia. But after a few months of missing home, I 10 that I had a choice. I could continue thinking about how much I missed my old home, 11 I could start trying to build a new home right here. I chose the latter.

    As soon as I stopped giving all my 12 to how much I missed Virginia, I was able to begin accepting the love that people were already giving me. I joined some clubs at school, which gave me the chance to make friends. My neighbor taught me how to cook some New Orleans food, and I found a wonderful 13 of fellow cooks and neighbors. Overall, I seized every possible opportunity to 14 myself and to rebuild my life.

    Because of my resilience (复原力) in creating a new home for myself and the 15 that people have shown to me, home is right here.