It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was 15 years old and feeling like the world was 1 for me because there hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted that year.

    Pa came back in and there was ice in his beard. “Come on, Matt,” Pa said. “Dress warmly. It's cold outside. We're going to Widow Jensen's. They are 2 wood.” Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and 3 her with three children, the oldest being eight.

    I 4 went out with Pa and we 5 the sled high with wood. 6 we went to the store and Pa took down a big ham, some bacon, a sack of flour and some shoes, which were put into a smaller sack. We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's in 7. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. I knew we didn't have much money and Widow Jensen had 8 neighbors than us. It shouldn't have been our 9.

    Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her 10. The children were wrapped in 11 and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that 12 gave off any heat at all. “We brought you a few things , Ma'am，” Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it.

    She 13 and took the shoes out one pair at a time. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from 14 and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, 15 it wouldn't come out. “We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am,” Pa said. Then he turned to me and said，“Matt，go bring some in. ”

    I wasn't the 16 person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I choked and as much as I hate to 17 it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept 18 those three kids huddled (蜷缩)around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much 19 in her heart that she couldn't speak. Just then the rifle seemed very 20. Pa had given me the best Christmas of my life.

    Charlotte Whitehead was born in England in 1843, and moved to Montreal, Canada at the age of five with her family. While  1 her ill elder sister throughout the years, Charlotte discovered she had a(an) 2in medicine. At 18 she married and3 a family. Several years later, Charlotte said she wanted to be a 4. Her husband supported her decision.5 , Canadian medical schools did not 6women students at the time. Therefore, Charlotte went to the United States to study 7  at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia. It took her five years to8 her medical degree.

    Upon graduation, Charlotte  9  to Montreal and set up a private 10. Three years later, she moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and there she was once again a 11 doctor. Many of her patients were from the nearby timber and railway camps. Charlotte12  herself operating on damaged limbs and setting 13 bones, in addition to delivering all the babies in the area.

    But Charlotte had been practicing without a license. She had 14 a doctor's license in both Montreal and Winnipeg, but was15. The Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons, an all-male board, wanted her to16 her studies at a Canadian medical college! Charlotte refused to 17  her patients to spend time studying what she already knew. So in 1887, she appealed to the Manitoba Legislature to 18a license to her but they, too, refused. Charlotte19 to practice without a license until 1912. She died four years later at the age of 73.

    In 1993, 77 years after her 20, a medical license was issued to Charlotte. This decision was made by the Manitoba Legislature to honor “this courageous and pioneering woman.”

    It was pouring outside. We all stood there1, some patiently; others annoyed2 nature messed up their hurried day. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens3 away the dirt and dust of the world.

    "Mom, let's run through the rain," a girl's voice4 me.

    "No, honey. We'll wait until it5 down a bit," Mom replied.

    The young girl waited about another minute and6: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

    "We'll get wet if we do," Mom said.

    "No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she7her Mom's arm.

    "This morning? 8 did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

    "Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through9.'"

    The entire crowd turned10. Mom paused and thought for a moment about11she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. 12 then, we heard, "Honey, you are13. Let's run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need washing," Mom said. Then 14 they ran.

    We all stood15, smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars. Yes, they got wet. But they were16 by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the17to their cars. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, and they can even take away your18. But no one can take away your precious 19. So, don't forget to make time and take the 20 to make memories every day! I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.

    One day I overheard my mom talk about a family whose work schedules overlapped (重叠), leaving no one to watch their two children. Upon hearing their 1, I decided to help this 2 out by babysitting (当临时保姆). I finally continued with it due to the 3 I obtained. For example, on the first day, while we were playing outside, the neighborhood kids 4 playing on the swings. I 5 came up with the solution of rock-paper-scissors: the kids who 6 swung first. I 7 I had the ability to change a negative situation into an enjoyable 8 for the children. The two children 9 me how creativity can come from the 10 things, with imagination being the only tool needed. We turned plates into masks and the backyard into a medieval (中世纪的) castle. They also taught me things can't always be 11 and sometimes things can get messy but you can always clean a mess up. I 12 more about myself each of the four times a week I spent at the household than I could have 13.

    I continued babysitting throughout my high school 14 the bond I'd formed with the children and the 15 I'd felt I was making in their family. It was 16 to watch the kids 17 and learn from things I was able to instill (灌输)in them. After the swing argument, whenever a 18 needed a solution, the kids would do rock-paper-scissors. I'll never 19 the lifetime skills I obtained from the experience that has 20 me into the person I am today.

    It was a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon some fifteen or sixteen years ago. I took my two kids to the local playground. As soon as we got there my daughter headed for the swings(秋千)and asked for a 1. I noticed another little girl 2 to get her own swing going high as I was 3 my daughter to go higher and higher.

    I walked over to the little girl and asked 4 she needed help. She smiled and said YES and I soon had her feet flying towards the 5 while she laughed happily. For the next two hours I found myself pushing swings and playing games with my daughter and the little girl. By the time we headed home, I was 6 tired, but my spirits were flying 7 than those swings.

    Three years later I was 8 again after a day's work. Still, I needed to 9 my kids from their school before heading home. I stood in the 10 waiting area waiting for my children. Suddenly, I felt two 11 arms wrapped around my legs. I looked down and there was the little girl I met 3 years before on the 12 smiling up at me. She gave me a big hug before running away to 13 the school bus. As I watched her 14, I didn't feel tired any more and my spirits were once again 15 with that swing.

    The love we 16 with others will find its way back to us. It will travel from heart to heart. It may take seconds or it may take 17. The law of love, 18 is never broken. We will get back what we give. We will harvest what we 19. The kindness we give and the joy we create will always come back to 20 us.

    Growing up in Georgia in the 1970s, I always felt that the bad old day of Southern prejudice (偏见) and ignorance had passed and that we were1a new South built upon hard-won racial equality, charity and the sense that no one was 2 than anyone else.

    I'm not so3anymore. Lately, I feel like our moral compass has been4, spinning to intolerance, greed and meanness.

    In times of 5, I put my faith in Elvis Presley, who6the South's better angles. He was a hard worker, and 7 he lived the high life, he never forgot that he had been born into 8. I don't think you'll 9hear an interview with the man when he didn't express 10for all that life had given him.

    And he was a self-made talent, perhaps the11entertainer of all time, born in a two-room shack(棚屋) in Tupelo, Mississippi. I've been there many times, reflecting on what it says about America .Greatness can be born12.

Elvis was famous for his generosity—13cars, expensive gifts and other handouts to anyone in need. That's how the Presleys14 the Great Depression(1929-1933). His father Vernon was a laborer who was often out of15, and the Presleys relied on the kindness of family and neighbors to get them 16 the hard time.

    Today's politicians please the crowds with messages that praise the rich and powerful and think of the poor as 17 their fate18, the crowds believe that their problems could be solved if only the poor people below them didn't 19 so much. To blame an immigrant (移民)for “ 20 ” a job, instead of the CEO who won't pay a living wage.

    Yet, I still believe, as Elvis once said, “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it can't go in a way”.