The day finally came，when I had to leave the warm home where I'd grown up.I ran to the back yard，as tears came up from my heart.Suddenly I1a hand rest on my shoulder.I looked up to2mygrandfather.“It isn't3 ， isit，Billy？”he said softly.

    Gently4myhand in his，we walked，hand in hand，tothe front yard，5a hugered rose­bush sat alone.

    “What do you see here，Billy？” he asked.I looked at the flowers，not knowing6to say，and then answered，“I see something soft and7 ， grandpa.”

    He pulled me8.“It isn't just the roses that are beautiful，Billy.It's that special place in your heart that makes them so.”“Billy，I9these roses when my first son was born.It was my10of saying 'thank you' to God.I11to watch him pick roses for his mother. Then, as a young man of only 20，a terrible war robbed him of his life.” Grandpa slowly stood up.“Never say good­bye，Billy. Never12to the sadness and the loneliness.Instead，I want you to remember the joy and the13when you first said hello to a friend.”

    A year later，my grandpa became very14.Then all members of the family were15back，and I returned to the old house. When it came to my16 ， I took his hand as17as  he had once taken mine.

    “Hello，grandpa，”I18.His eyes slowly opened and said，“Hello，my friend.” With a brief19he died. Suddenly，and truly.I knew what he had20about never saying good­bye—about refusing to give in to sadness.​

    On July 24, 1916, a natural gas explosion trapped 32 men working in a tunnel 250 feet below Lake Erie. The first rescuers who entered the tunnel were 1 by gas, and for hours no one else dared to enter the suffocating (窒息的)2 deathtrap.

    Then, late that night, someone had an idea3 Garrett Morgan and his new invention. Garrett Morgan was a successful 4 owner in Cleveland. The son of freed slaves and the seventh of 11 children, mechanically minded Morgan had opened his own sewing machine shop, which he soon 5 to a tailoring factory with 32 employees.

    In the early 1900s, factory buildings were crowded and untidy. They were often6 of wood, with no fire escapes. Fire could cause serious7 Concerned about his employees, Morgan 8 with a “safety hood” (头罩) that would allow the wearer to9 despite a fire's poisonous smoke.

    Morgan knew smoke rises during a fire10 he created a heat-resistant hood with a long tube reaching to the floor. Wearing Morgan's hood, a firefighter could breathe the 11 air near the 12 Morgan lined the breathing tube with a sponge-like material that was wetted before use to13 the air. A second tube was designed to14 exhaled (呼出的) air.

    Called to the scene on the night of the tunnel explosion, Garrett arrived with samples of his safety hood. Still in their nightwear, he and his brother Frank put on the hoods and 15 entered the tunnel. It was a dangerous 16 of the invention, but they saved two lives and 17four bodies before officials closed the18Morgan knew that more lives might have been saved if he had been called sooner.

    The daring19 made Morgan famous and brought requests for safety hoods from fire departments around the country. But his greatest20 was knowing that his invention would now save more people.

    One cold December morning, my dad and I were walking along the road to a store to buy Christmas presents. Suddenly a car ran to us out of 1. Pushed away by my dad, I was 2 while he was unable to escape and injured. My dad 3 unconditional love to me when faced with the accident. Since that day, I have 4 the power of love and the 5it can teach to those who take anything for granted, as I did everything before.

    People wander into our lives for various reasons, but each one has something to 6, even the driver who caused the 7. He helped me a lot. Whether our 8is entirely good or not, there remains something to be gained from every person we 9. I have come to view 10 in this way. Sometimes, when schoolwork gets tough and I lack 11, I remind myself that I am here to make use of every lesson that I have been given. What a 12 it is to be able to acquire knowledge!

    This unconditional love I have for 13allows me to see the world through what some may call rose-colored glasses, which helps me to love and be loved in complete confidence as well. 14, it offers me the power to see things clearly in the15 changing world and 16myself to overcome difficulties in my life. I am 17 to learn, and because of my ability to love, I 18 the challenges that will help me grow. I approach everything with interests, and 19 an opportunity for education on every page of my books, and even with difficulties and 20.

    “Everything happens for the best,” my mother said whenever I faced 1. “If you can 2, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if it were not for that 3 disappointment.”

    Mother was right, which I 4 after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a/an 5in radio, then work my 6 up to sports announcer. I hitchhiked（搭便车） to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station and got 7 every time.

    In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring 8 persons. “Go out in the sticks and find a 9 station that'll give you a chance,” she said.

    I went home to Dixon, Illinois. While there was no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was 10 I had played high school football, I 11. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn't 12.

    My disappointment 13. Although I didn't say anything, Mom reminded, “Everything happens for the best.” Dad 14me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had 15 hired an announcer.

    As I left his office, my 16 boiled over（沸溢，发怒）. I asked aloud, “How can a fellow get to be a 17 announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?”

    I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur 18, “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he stood me before a 19 and asked me to broadcast an 20 game.

    My least favorite part was participating in sport meets, for I loved running by myself. When faced with running against fellow athletes, I was 1. I had butterflies in my stomach and the sudden urge to go to the nearest 2. This year, 3, I was encouraged to join in a long distance running competition by my coach.

    The 800-meter event was approaching, meaning that I would 4 soon. I breathed deeply and tried to 5 my worries. I walked over to some of the 6 who would run with me and started to 7 with them. We were all loosening up and getting ready to run as 8as possible.

    I stepped up to the line for the event. The starter raised his cap gun and 9. About twenty-five runners 10. With these runners around me, I 11 my coach's words, “You may be small, but you have 12 power.” So, I kept up with athletes twice my 13. I picked up the runner in seventh place and based my steps on him, making it a little bit faster. One by one, I 14 to make it to the top four, bursting around the lap.

It was the last lap before the final straightaway. I 15 I had the possibility to win. So I widened my steps, speeding up my 16. I caught up with the runner in first place and we ran side-by-side down the last 100 meters — I 17 him by a hair at the finishing line.

    My coach gave me a 18 hug as I headed back to see him. He was 19 because I had shortened my original 20 by twelve seconds at least.

    My mom is the most positive person I know. She has a/an 1 spirit, sees the good in all people, and always sees 2 in any situation. I grew up in a 3, positive home environment, where there were always family 4 and lots of laughter.

    I have fond memories of my mom taking us to 5 every Saturday morning. While my brother and I would have rather stayed home on our day off from school, she had us 6 her to help people in Roanoke, Virginia who needed groceries (食品杂货) to feed their families. While she did her service role, we helped to prepare bags of food. 7, this got to be something we looked forward to and we always left feeling 8 about what we did.

    My sweet mom 9 made doing housework enjoyable. The best 10 I learned from her that sticks with me today is "O-H-I-O". Growing up, my mom would 11 me a pile of clean clothes and I would 12 set them on the floor, 13 to put them away later. My mom would say, "Kids, you've got to 14: OHIO! That means Only Handle It Once. When I give you clothes, put them away in your 15 as soon as I give them to you so they are only in your hands 16."

    Today, as a forty-two-year-old wife and stepmom, when I pick up my mail or bring clean, 17 clothes to my room, I hear my 18 mom's voice in my head: "Remember, OHIO!" Most of the time, I take those extra two minutes to handle things only once and put them in their 19 place. Who knew that this girl from Virginia would learn such a/an 20 lesson about OHIO that stays with me still today? Thanks, Mom!