View life from new angles

    When I was 14, life felt dull and boring. The high school I went to had over a thousand students, I didn't really 1 to notice the differences between us all.

    Butth is dull view of mine 2 when my parents bought me a camera for 3Even though I didn't 4 the first thing about photography, I dived headfirst into the medium. It was after a month of playing with my new camera when I realized I had no 5 for taking pictures. My photos were clearly 6 something of importance and lacked 7. After a while, I became so 8 with my lack of artistic talent that I quit my new hobby.

    During the summer break, I suddenly decided to pick it 9 again. I went for a walk on the railroad track behind my house. Surprisingly, this walk on the tracks was 10 began my love for photography. When I was walking on the train tracks 11 a model to photograph and only 12 around me, I 13 how important it was to look at the details of things. I didn't worry about trying to create something beautiful. Instead, I just 14 photos of the beauty already around me. I quickly became 15 to color, lighting, shape, shading and everything in between. After months of studying outdoor 16, I was finally able to create beauty of my own and my work has been 17 in two small magazines.

    Slowly, my photos became something I was 18 of. They're not masterpieces, but they're important to me. And they're signs of how much my artistic abilities have 19: I went from zero artistic talent to being published.

    20 this Christmas gift from my parents, I now have a new way of looking at the world.

    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.

    On the night of August 24, 2001, everything changed when my friend's car hit a wall with me inside. I lost most of my right 1, and I was left bleeding with several broken bones. 2, my mind was still very clear in the hospital. I just kept telling myself to 3 and I 4 with the doctors that once I could roll onto my side, I would leave. They agreed. Two weeks later, I was 5 to go home.

    6 I left the hospital, the fight was far from over. My left knee was badly injured, which 7 different surgeries (外科手术) over the next few years. And soon, more of my right leg had to be 8. This made it harder to wear my false leg, so I donated it to a nurse who couldn't 9 one for herself, from 10 I gained greater happiness than the joy I felt on any day I was able to wear it myself.

    People often tell me they're 11 of me for staying strong. But in my mind, I can do 12 but stay strong. So, on the 13 I left the hospital, I made a promise to myself to 14 live life to the fullest. I soon 15 everyday life again, until one day I realized I wasn't living my life as 16 as I wanted to. After 13 years of thinking I was confident, 17, I knew I should help people around me.

    In 2014, I even started modeling. My dream is that one day a little girl will see me in a magazine and say, Wow, she's 18, and she had only one leg. I could do that too some day, even though I have a 19. My dream is simple, to 20 people to believe they are beautiful the way they are.

    Peggy Lewis lost her house in a brutal tornado, but the tornado couldn't take the one thing that meant the most.

    One 1, Peggy Lewis and her husband, Harris Lee, were 2 the trees blow in the wind outside their home in Eureka, Kansas. The next, they were surrounded by glass from the house's 3 windows. The roof tore off. The walls caved in. After the tornado had 4, it took a team of neighbors to take them to the hospital. "I thought we were going to 5," says Lewis.

    When the pair 6 to their property three days after that awful night last June, it was 7 that what remained of the house would need to be torn down. But 8 Lewis would let that happen, she wanted one thing­her family Bible.

    Lewis had bought the Bible 35 years earlier, at the start of her 9. Like many folks, she'd used it to hold and preserve her 10 history: decades-old photos, a lock of her daughter's hair, 11 a piece of a scarf her uncle had brought back from the Korean War.

    The Bible was the first thing Lewis 12 when she returned to the house. It wasn't 13 she'd last seen it, 14 top of a dresser in her bedroom. In fact, the dresser wasn't there at all.

    When two volunteers 15 to help the couple dig out, Lewis had one mission for them: "If you can find anything," she said, "please find my Bible."

    After an hour of 16, one of the volunteers ran up to her. Lewis had tears streaming down her cheeks and a book in her hands. Stunningly, while many books inside the home had been destroyed beyond 17, the Bible was still intact(完好无损), even though it had sat in the rain for days. "I 18 broke down," says Lewis.

    "I thought it was gone forever. It was a(an)19."

    She knows that while every good book tells stories of catastrophic(灾难性的) weather and unlikely survival, this one actually 20 it.

    My l4-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat which was hanging at a secondhand clothing store in Northampton Mass. While the other coats drooped(低垂), this one looked as if it were1itself up. The coat had beautiful tailoring, a Fifth Avenue label and a(an)2price of $28, which was popular just then with3, but could cost several hundred dollars new. This coat was even better, bearing that4of classic elegance(优雅). John tried it on and the fit was perfect.

    John5the coat to school the next day and came home wearing a big smile" Did the kids like your coat?" I asked. "They loved it," he said,6folding it over the back of a chair and smoothing it flat. Over the next few weeks, a7came over John. Agreement replaced contrariness (作对) and reasoned discussion replaced fierce8. He became more mannerly and9, eager to please. He would generously loan his younger brother his tapes and lecture him10his behavior.

    When I mentioned this incident to his teacher and11what caused the changes, she said laughing. "It12be his coat!" Another teacher told him she was giving him a good13not only because he had earned14but because she liked his coat. At the library, we ran into a friend "Could this be John?" he asked surprisingly,15John's new height, assessing the cut of his coat and extending his hand, one gentleman to another.

    John and I both know we should never16a person's clothes for the real person within them.17there is something to be said for wearing a standard of excellence for the world to see and for18what is on the inside to what is on the outside.

    For John it is a time when it is as easy to try on different approaches to19as it is to try on a coat. The whole world, the whole future is stretched out ahead, a vast landscape20all the doors are open. And he could picture himself walking through those doors wearing his wonderful, magical coat.

    It was our first Thanksgiving in the new house and I wanted everything to be perfect. But my plan for everyone to do some preparation work had been1by my husband's business trip. Even worse, a project for me that week had2two days of planned vacation. By Wednesday, my task of a table with fresh flowers,3drinking glasses and various homemade desserts had already4, I just hoped that I'd find a clean tablecloth and eight5forks.

    In my perfect Thanksgiving, there wouldn't be any orange in my salad because It hadn't made the grocery list. There would be no perfect family photos to record that day because I hadn't got the broken camera6. Someone had brought home the wrong toilet paper, which was the last straw that made me7.

    I don't remember what my son asked me as he was doing some cleaning,8I do remember twisting into that mean-and-tight mom-face before making an9. This combination of noise and anger is a universal signal to kids everywhere that they might as well10me. But he didn't.

    Instead of disappearing from view, my second-grader turned11the cleaning machine and walked across the room to12me. He never said a word. He just13his arms around me, making me feel14of myself until today.

It turned out a(n)15Thanksgiving. The people I loved gathered around my table and dined just one choice of the pie. My dad used a mismatched fork without16. My daughter drew a picture of us where everyone smiled.

    My son took a(n)17to teach me that sometimes we need a hug most when we are18huggable. This is the best gift you can give: One size19all and no one ever minds if you20.