Mildred Webinga Freeman was an English teacher at the new middle school I attended in the ninth grade.She wasn't my1;she was the adviser to the safety patrol（巡逻）on which I2.I loved being around her and3her sense of humor and kind personality.She was4a good listener.

    At the end of the year,she5that she was moving to Florida,and I was very sad.We exchanged6and became pen pals.I could tell her7,and she treated me8respect even though I was a teenager.

    In Florida ,Mrs. Freeman became a Realtor（房地产经纪人）,9she managed to find time to write letters.She wrote10stories and always took my concerns11.She had given me a(n)12invitation to visit,and I missed her so much.When I13to take her up on the14,she answered,"Get your shoes on and your bags15!You are welcome anytime!"

    I spent three weeks with her in Miami.Her16of poetry,music,and creative writing17me to follow these endeavors（努力）.One day18hanging sheets on the clothesline,she19and said,"You know,the sky is fuel for the soul."I had never looked at the20before hearing those words.Later that year,I received a call that Mrs.Freeman had died.

    If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it's helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my1ways to do this is by developing my own helping rituals (习惯). These little2of kindness are opportunities to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be kind and helpful.

    We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area.3of what we see is the beauty of nature. One of the exceptions to the beauty is the4that some people throw out of their windows as they are5on the rural roads. One of the few drawbacks(缺点) to living out the boondocks（偏远地区）is that 6services, such as litter collection, are less available than those closer to the city.

    A helping ritual that I practice7 with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. We've become so8 doing this that my daughters will often say to me in animated(兴致勃勃)9, “There's some litter, Daddy, stop the car!” And if we have10, we will often pull over and pick it up. It seems strange, but we actually 11 it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically12. Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to where we13. He smiled at me and said, “I saw you doing this, and it seemed like a good idea.”

    Picking up litter is only one of an endless supply of possible helping rituals. You might like14a door open for people, visiting lonely old people in nursing homes, or shoveling snow from someone else's driveway. Think of something that seems effortless yet helpful. It's fun, personally rewarding, and15a good example. Everyone wins.

    My nephew's 10-year-old son came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I persuaded him to 1 inside and joined him in a game. After 2for an hour, I suggested that we relax for a while. I 3 my favorite recliner（躺椅）to let my neck muscles relax. He had slipped out of the room and I was catching a few enjoyable 4 of peace and quiet.

    "Look, Alice," he said eagerly as he 5 over to the chair where I was sitting." I found a kite. Could we go outside and 6 it?"

    Glancing out a nearby window, I noticed it was7 outside. "I'm sorry, Tripper," I said, sad to see his 8 eyes. "The wind is not 9 today. The kite won't fly."

    The10 10-year-old boy replied, "I think it's windy enough. I can get it to fly." He answered 11 he hurried out to the back door.

    Up and down in the yard he ran, 12 the kite attached to a small length of string. He ran back and forth, as hard as his ten-year-old legs would carry him, looking back 13 at the kite behind. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful determination, he came back in.

    I asked, "How did it 14 ?"

    "Fine," he said, not wanting to admit 15. "I got it to fly some"

As he walked past me to return the kite to the closet shelf, I heard him say under his breath," I guess I'll have to wait for the16. "

    At that moment I heard another voice speak to my 17 ."Alice, sometimes you are just like that. You want to do it in your way 18waiting for the wind."

And the voice was right. We usually want to use our own efforts to 19what we want to do. We wait for the wind only after we have done all we can and have exhausted（耗尽）our own 20 .

    15 years ago, I was arranged to be a doctor in a small hospital after graduation. As the 1, it was the newcomer to be in charge of the night 2 affairs. It was a thankless job for me 3 Mr. Henderson came into my life.

    At 11 p.m. of one April 5th night, a 60-year-old man suffering heart-attack was 4 into the emergency room. I did my best the whole night to save his life. When I left the next morning, I 5 to see how he was doing. He had 6 that night.

    Three months later, at 11 p.m. 7. I was 8 that a couple wanted to speak with me. When I 9 them, the man said, "My name is John Henderson. You probably don't remember me. But at the 10 time three months ago, you saved my life." They then 11 me and before they left they handed me a delicate gift to 12their thankfulness. They said they would come to visit me 13 .

    The next April 5th night, I 14 to stay, though a new doctor bad replaced my night work. At exactly 11pm, 15 the Hendersons appeared, 16 a baby stroller(婴儿车). It was their new grandchild.

Last April 5th nights, Mr. Henderson handed me another gift—a silver card 17 seven words carved on it; A good friend is a nearest 18 . I take it as one of my priceless 19 because it always reminds me that a job that I had been 20 to do should bring me family-like care from someone. I world have never known.

Hawthorne worked as a clerk in a small company. He suffered a heavy blow when he lost his job. His boss had spoken 1, "Your services are no longer needed." Hawthorne left the building filled with despair. By the time he reached home, he was in deep 2. When he entered his house, he blurted out(脱口而出)to his wife Sophia, "I lost my job. I am a complete failure." A tense silence followed. 3, a smile crept across Sophia's face. "What great news!" she responded, "Now you can write the book you have always wanted to write."

"But I have no job and no prospect of a job," he objected completely without hope. "If I 4 to be an author, then what will we 5? Where will the money come from?"

Sophia took her husband by the hand and 6 him to the kitchen. Opening a drawer, she took out a box that was full of 7. "Where on earth did you get this?" Hawthorne asked. "To whom does it 8?"

"It's ours!" Sophia replied. "I always knew that one day you would become a great writer 9 you were given the chance. From the money you gave me for housekeeping every week, I have 10 as much as I could so you would have your chance. Now there is enough to 11 us a whole year. "

What a(n) 12! What a wife! The 13 husband did concentrate on writing that year, and the novel he wrote became a literary masterpiece. The book is The Scarlet Letter. Sophia had an even greater 14,—she turned Nathaniel Hawthorne from a poor clerk into a world famous 15.

71-year-old, Helen Lloyd Jones from Cardiff recently completed her first marathon and is encouraging others of her age to take up the challenge. "Do it. We only live once," she said after the event.

Helen took up running in her 50's while working as a teacher. After jogging alongside one of her students during a sports day race, Helen said, "I felt terrible, absolutely terrible. It was a wakeup call and I started to practise jogging."

Helen started attending her local parkrun, but decided she needed a bigger challenge to keep her motivated. Once the idea of running 26.2 came into her head, she was decided, and set her sights on running a larger race, using the support of the crowds to get her round.

Helen didn't tell her husband for the first five months of her training as she knew he'd be worried about the toll the distance might have on her, saying g afterwards, "The difference between the man who waved me goodbye and the smiling man who greeted me when I returned was a reflection of how much he had been worrying. But he is very proud of me."

At 71, Helen explains how she didn't do her training "by the book". After trying to do a long run, a speed run and a hill run each week, she soon found her body was not able to recover fast enough between sessions. Instead, she chose one long run a week with her local running club Pegasus and friend Sally, so she could feel confident with the distance. 

A proud grandmother, Helen is I now taking her grandchildren to parkruns and junior parkruns. She hopes that they will remember running with their grandmother when they grow up. Are there more marathons in her future? "I said I would only do the one, but have a feeling that if I got a place in London or New York... I might change my mind."