Forever friendship

    Twenty-one years ago，my husband gave me Sam，an eight-week-old dog，to help me ease(减轻；缓解) the loss of our daughter. Later my husband and I moved from New York to New Jersey where our neighbor，whose cat had 1had kittens，asked us if we would like one. We were afraid that Sam would not be2 ， but we made up our3to take a kitten.

    We picked a little，gray，playful cat. She 4around running after imaginary mice and squirrels and jumped from table to chair very 5 ， so we named her Lightning(闪电)．

    At6 ， Sam and Lightning were not close to each other. But slowly，as the days went on，Lightning started 7Sam. They slept together，ate together and played together. When I took 8one out of the house，the other was always 9by the door when we returned. That was the10they lived for years.

    Then，without any11 ， Sam suddenly died of a weak heart. This time，there was no Sam for Lightning to greet and no way to 12why she would never see her friend again.

    In the13that followed，Lightning seemed heartbroken. She could not14me in words that she was 15 ， but I could see the pain and 16in her eyes whenever anyone opened the front door. The weeks17by，and the cat's sorrow seemed to be lifting(消失). One day as I walked into our living room，I18 to have a look at the floor next to our sofa 19we had a sculptured replica(雕塑复制品)of Sam that we had bought a few years before. Lying next to the statue(雕塑)，one arm wrapped around the statue's neck，was Lightning，sleeping with her best20.

    One day when I was 13, my family was working in the fields to clear away old brush when somehow the electric fence sparked(冒火星) and1a fire. We didn't see the fire2it had blocked the way to the only gate. I3to jump over the fence to safety but the fire was all around us. I could only watch in4as the flames continued to rise. Little did I know that my father had once been a(an)5and knew what to do.6with only a pump sprayer, buckets, and his boots, he7down to the nearby pond, filled the buckets and the sprayer, and began spraying the8while my older brother threw water with the buckets. Soon the wind9 however, and with the Fire Department too far away to arrive in time, my father began to stomp(踩灭) out the flames as he moved to the10 so that my family was able to move inch by inch toward the gate.11he arrived at the gate, he jumped into the truck, rolled up the windows, and drove12the fire. Then the fire was put out, and my mother was looking at my father with her13eyes.

    After that, my father began telling us about his days as a firelighter, and my brother and I became14 asking him what other jobs he had done before he15 Well, it turned out that he had done just about16except brain surgery!

    He had been in the military as a carpenter, carpet layer, and electrician, and had built B2 bombers before being poisoned in an accident that had17him to retire. My father has a blood disorder as a result of that18 but that hasn't stopped him from being a full-time electrician.

    To all those people whose fathers have worked in the military and in other dangerous jobs, be19of them, and remember that some day their20might save your life.

    The whole school was talking about the coming trip at a winter camp. And everyone was 1, except me.

    "I'll hate it," I told my parents. "I'll get homesick (想家的). I'll look stupid at winter sports, and everyone will 2 me. "

    "You might be surprised, Bree," said Mom. "The only way to find out is to 3."

    "It's what growing up is all about," Dad added.

    When 4 the camp, we were asked to share one 5.

    "I'm afraid I'll be homesick," someone said.

    I wasn't the only one?! I began to 6. After lunch, we were asked to ski (滑雪) down to the field. I skied 7, but I still hit a piece of ice and 8.

    "Ha! Ha!" Behind me, somebody started laughing. I 9 to see who was making fun of me. To my 10, I saw a girl in the same awkward (尴尬的) position I was in. "I thought I'd be bad at this, 11 I'm worse than I expected!" she said.

    12, I started laughing too. After being so 13 of falling, it was a comfort not to fear it anymore.

    At dinnertime, I was so happy to be talking about interesting things that I 14 to feel homesick.

    The next day, I was 15 to try ski jumping first, even though I didn't want to. But when my feet left the ground, I felt I was 16 and it was wonderful.

    Maybe Dad was right when he said "You might 17 it if you give it a chance!"

    Maybe the kind of 18 Mom and Dad were talking about had more to do with my outlook (态度）than my looks. We all 19 fitting in and failing when we try 20 things. Sometimes you've got to fall on your face to discover how much you've got in common.

    If life were a book and you were the author, how would you like the story to go? That is the question that1my life forever.

    One day I went home from the training of snowboarding with what I thought was the flu, and less than 24 hours later, I was in a2on life support with less than twenty percent3of living. It wasn't until days later that the doctors diagnosed me with a4blood infection. Over the5of 2.5 months, I lost the hearing in my left ear and both my legs below the knees. When my parents6me out of the hospital, I7that I had been put together like a patchwork （拼接物）doll and I had to live with8legs. I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken,9streaming down.

    But I knew in order to move forward, I had to let go of the Old Amy and10the New Amy. It was at this moment that I asked myself that significant11. And that is when it12me that I didn't have to be five-foot-five anymore,13I could be as tall as I wanted. And14of all, I can make my feet the size of all the shoes. So there were15here.

    Four months later, I was back upon a16. And this February, I won two Board World Cup gold medals,17me the highest ranked snowboarder in the world.

    So, instead of looking at our18and limitations as something19or bad, we can begin looking at them as a wonderful20that can be used to help us to further than we ever know we could go.

    We have five fantastic children. As they've grown older, from high school to college and so on, we found ourselves cleaning out our home of furniture only to replace it with something new. We had this living room set (一组) 1 a sofa, love seat and chair go 2 a couple of the kids, dragging it up the stairs to their third floor apartments and back down again to the next apartment. Our son was the last to have the set when 3 he asked for a place to 4 it because he was going out of town for a semester. We told him we would 5 it for him in our garage. So we picked the furniture up and 6 it back to the house.

    One day, while at 7, I heard a couple of people talking in the hallway. A mother and her two children were 8 out of their own house by her husband, with 9 but the clothes on their backs. Some warmhearted people found them a place to stay, but no belongings, clothes, food, or furniture.

    Our colleagues and I 10 all we could to help her. I went to the store and bought some clothes for the children and some 11 essentials. I came home that day after work and looked at the furniture in the garage sitting there, 12. I called my son and told him what I wanted to do. He agreed.

    The next 13 was to the mother of two. She came to my house within an hour to pick up the furniture and the bag of clothes. She said she would 14 the furniture as soon as she would be able to.

    I looked at her and said, "15 you are done with the furniture, give it to someone else in16."

    She cried, 17 by the generosity and thanked everyone greatly for all that 18 did to help. It makes me so happy to know that the 19 that grew with our family was being 20 to good use.

    For many, just taking part in a single marathon is the achievement of a lifetime. But for Julie Weiss, it has become a1routine. She has run 12 marathons once a week-for the past year in memory of her dad who2just 35 days after he was3with pancreatic cancer(胰腺癌). When Julie Weiss lost her father in 2010, she was4to find the research for pancreatic cancer is so short of fund. "It made me feel5" she said, "I knew I had to do something."

    So this marathon queen, 6she calls herself, did what she did best; she went running. Having completed 25 marathons during the7two years, Julie now vowed(发誓) to run 12 marathons in 12 weeks in8of her father. After asking people to9money for each marathon, she10a website, marathon goddess, com, to collect money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network(PANCAN), a nonprofit organization. Julie began her incredible11with a marathon is Rome and then entered a race every12in some city across North America.13leaving work at 5p.m.on Friday she would be ready to begin the next race, before she14home to California on Sunday. Julie finished her 1,362.4-mile journey in March 2013, 15more than $ 200,000 in the process for PANCAN.

    While running, she stuck to a strict training schedule. "My body's getting used to this. I'm changing my diet, becoming more healthy and learning to run more16" she said. When her muscles began to17, she kept her18in mind. "When you do what you love, for those you love, that is where the19happen. Together we can make a(n)20, and pave the way for a happy, healthy, cancer free life." she said.