I still remember the day when I was driving to the supermarket I own. When I came out, I found a boy 1 my car with a brush. I went over and patted him 2 the shoulder, which surprised him very much. In no time he began to 3 at me. So I was sure he 4 some money. From the shoes he was wearing I could hardly imagine how 5he was. So I offered him a $100 bill. To my great surprise, he 6to take it. When I was wondering what he was doing, he said” I was waiting here for 4 hours, waiting for you. Your 7is so beautiful and I like it, but I don't need that. “I knew he was mentioning the 8.

    As he had refused the money, I offered to drive him around the town. The boy became so 9that he got into the car at once, “Would you please drive me10? It is only about 3 miles.” What the boy wanted to do was to show off to his friends and his family.11 I stopped, he jumped out and ran into an old building, telling me to wait there for some time. Very soon he came out, saying to a little girl on his back, “Look at this beautiful car. I will buy you 12someday.”

    I noticed his sister had a pale face.13 her legs were too thin, and she was unable to 14.

    After that day I went to his home several times. And I got to know more about him and his 15 Poor as they were, the boy 16refused my money, and said, “I can 17money by myself, thank you.”

    Soon I 18my manager of the supermarket that a boy would go to 19here the next day.

    No matter how poor we are, we will 20 give in to ourselves.

    When I was younger I developed an interest in stories of magic. I 1 books where wizards (巫师) and fighters 2 the powers of darkness in strange worlds. I was very happy when they 3 to bring peace and happiness to their lands in the end. Like most of the readers of these stories I secretly 4 for magical powers for myself. I wanted to be able to magically make my pain disappear, to make my problems 5, and to have power over this world that so 6 has power over us.

    As I got older, however, I 7 that there was no such thing as magic and how 8 the reality of life was. I had daily pain from a back injury that never healed (治愈)  right. I went through a 9 period of poverty for many years. I felt 10 when both of my sons were diagnosed with Autism (自闭症). I still sometimes daydreamed of magic 11 even that faded away.

    Then one day it struck me that there was a 12 kind of magic, which grew 13 in my heart, soul, and mind day by day and year by year. This magic was called LOVE. It 14 me to my own highest self and to all of the other 15 in this world. It didn't get rid of my 16 but it made every day of my life feel richer. It didn't cure my sons, Autism, but it helped me see them as the beautiful, loving, and joyful souls that they 17 are. It didn't make me a wizard or a fighter.18, it helped me to drive the darkness of this world with my own 19.

    May you choose it, share it, and live in it every single day of your life. May you use it to 20 others, and to heal this world.

    We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate my daughter's beautiful performance. We don't do this often because of our1budget.

    I noticed a very2mom come in with her three children, maybe about age 4 or 5. She looked like she had just3work. She sat with her children quietly taking care of them and4all their needs. Then I noticed as soon as the last course5arrived, she took a bite of her food in a hurry and then one of the6had to go to the bathroom. They all left the table and she7them—so lovingly and8— especially after what may have been a long day at work. She was still wearing some kind of uniform.

    I 9 myself from the table and quietly went to the hostess stand. I 10 $15 to the hostess and said, “Can you put this anonymously(匿名地) towards that mom of 3's 11？ I am hoping it will 12 at least the children's meals.” The hostess had such a lovely smile and accepted the 13. I didn't stand around 14 as I didn't want anyone—even my own family—to 15 what was going on. I wanted it to be completely anonymous.

    For the 16 of my meal, I did all I could not to pay any more attention 17 to the table, as I didn't want her to suspect that it was me that had 18 their dinner.

    It feels so 19 to live in this type of world, full of love and 20 ， instead of anger, sadness and self－service.

    Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they are meant to be there.

    They serve some sort of 1 in order to teach a lesson or help 2 who you are or who you want to become. You never know 3 these people may be — your roommate, neighbor, professor, long-lost friend, lover or even a complete 4, but when you keep an eye on them, you know at that very moment that they will 5 your life in some great way.

    And sometimes things happen to you and they may seem 6, horrible and unfair at the time, but 7 solving those problems, you would never have realized your potential, strength, willpower or heart. Everything happens for a(n) 8. Nothing happens by 9 or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and stupidity—all occur to 10 the limits of your soul. Without these small tests life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but dull and 11.

    The people you meet who affect your life and the successes and 12 you experience — they are the ones that create who you are. Even the 13 experiences can be learned from.

    If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, 14 them, for they have helped you learn about 15 and the importance of being 16 about whom you open your heart to. If someone loves you, love them back 17, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to things you would without them.

    18 have seen or felt Make every day 19. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.

    "People are like tea bags — you have to put them in hot water before you know how 20 they are."

    Walking across campus with every pair of eyes on you can be embarrassing, especially when you're 13 years old. I looked around me in 1 of a friendly face, a smile, anything. I was quite disappointed. And I, 2, felt somewhat foolish, walking across campus 3 with a false smile plastered(粘贴)across my face. I was simply 4 to follow the advice my mother had given me years before: when things get 5, smile. No matter where you are, a smile will always be understood. A smile is 6. At that very moment, however, I felt my mother's advice didn't 7.

    When the teacher 8 me to the class as the "American girl," 10 sets of hands immediately shot up. Some students had 9; others wanted to practice their English with me. Because I couldn't speak much Chinese 10, I communicated with them via gestures mixed in with 11 English and Chinese. Although I was 12, I wasn't sure how much of it was 13. It was almost as if they were 14 about me and I was being examined. 15 who could blame them? After all, I was the first American ever to 16 the school.

    Then, from across the room, a Chinese classmate suddenly 17 at me, and my nerves were instantly 18. Though there are cultural and language 19, we were sharing something in common. And as usual, my mother was right. A smile does make a 20.

I was getting more excited as we got off the train at beautiful Grand Central Station. After a tour at the Museum of Modern Art, we1 Radio City Music Hall and the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. In one of the 2 in the area, I found a tiny boxed set of Peter Rabbit books, perfect for my 3 . Was there anything like Christmas in New York? Having experienced an exciting and tiring tour, we called a  4   back to Grand Central Station.

On the way home I realized that my handbag was gone—lost or 5  , I had no idea. All the magic of this special day  6  . I glumly(闷闷不乐地) imagined a crowded Department of Motor Vehicles and all the phone calls that I'd have to make to get my  7   cards replaced with new ones. And I'd never 8  all those precious photos to my daughters.

The days slipped by while I got rides to college and  9 going to the DMV( 车 管 所 ) at such a busy time of year. Then I got an unexpected 10 , a box with the return address of Radio City Music Hall.  11  , I opened it and shouted in a joyful  12   .

There was my old handbag, with everything 13  good inside—license, cards and photos—and one thing that hadn't been there  14  , a handwritten note, saying, "I found this handbag lying under the seat of my taxi by  15   . Merry Christmas!"