Honest Thanks

    I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the notecard into the 1 ， sealed it and stuck the stamps on it，but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox...I2.

    The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via Facebook 3.She had inspired me to live a(n)  4 life—for example，by 5 more.

    Her volunteer efforts weren't 6—she wasn't building wells in Uganda，but  7 she was doing small，local good deeds，such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do，too. She made me8 I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her 9 positively influenced my life .I could have easily sent her an e-mail，10 that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank you. That's why I ended up 11 the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox，unable to place the envelope inside. What was 12 me? Why was this so 13 to do? I guess I felt strange because it wasn't like she was my best friend，I just knew her，“People don't 14do this，” I thought to myself. However，15 thinking it over，I still felt a(n)16to let her know how grateful I was. Finally，I put the envelope in the mailbox.

    Weeks later I received her reply. She was 17  a tough time and my letter meant the 18  to her. She didn't know she had such a(n)19on others. Not only did this letter make her happy，but her response to it increased my 20 of happiness，I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating gratitude is a great skill to practice. Life is too short not to do it.

    A boy from a farmer's family stopped from school due to poverty, and went back farming to1the family. When he grew up to 19 years old, his father died. After that, all the family2 him including his mother and grandma in sickness.

    At first, he 3a pool and wanted to feed fish. But others told him it couldn't be used to feed fish, but only to grow crops. What he could do was to cover the pool and thereafter he became a  4.

    Then he heard raising chickens was a way of making money.  He borrowed some money from relatives and  5  chickens.  6  a flood attacked the town, and after that all the chickens got sick and        almost  7. His mother could hardly 8  it and died in the gloom.

    He 9the businesses of making wine, fishing or even digging embrasures (炮眼) on the cliff for others.

    When he was 35, he had no wife, no money, but only lived in a house made from earth which would 10in any storm. But he still wanted to 11 . He borrowed some money to buy a truck. But when he   drove it on the road after a short while, he had an  12  and broke his leg. He became crippled. Everyone said he was  13 .

    But later he became a boss, who owned a capital of 200 million. Now lots of people know his past and his business experiences. A journalist made a(n) 14with him.

    “Why do you  15after so many failures?”

    He was sitting in front of a broad table and just had finished a cup of water. Then he held the16cup in hand and asked, “If I loose my hand, what will happen to this cup?”

    “Broken!” answered the journalist.

    He 17his hand and the cup fell to the floor, with a bang sound, but not 18.

    “Even if ten people were there they would believe it was broken. But, it isn't a(n)  19cup. It is made of  20.”

    I'm a seventeen-year-old, counting down the days till graduation, just like every other senior in the world. I've1a lot in my short seventeen years of life, but I have also made mistakes. I'm not2. I'm on the path of self-discovery, which as I've come to realize is not3.

    After many years, I still4remember the last time I had to5. At that moment, starting a new6wasn't really that big of a deal. I spent the next four and a half years in Mountain Home. I made four7friends anyone could ever ask for. When I had to8them, I was depressed.

    I soon9that starting a new high school was different from being the “10girl” in elementary or even middle school. It wasn't as easy to gain the “approval(认可)” of my11now as it had been back then. Back in elementary or middle school,12I was a freshman, I had my friends and people I knew. I could very easily13well over ninety percent of my class.14, at this new school, I15no one.

    I've been told over and over by my mom that I'll16have to enter the “real” world and that the17I have over all of these things will soon disappear. What adults18to realize is that every day in a teenager's life is a battle. We're no longer children, but not quite adults. We struggle to19who we are.

    Although I still have about a year and a half left, I honestly believe that being a teenager has been the hardest20in my life, something I'm sure I'll carry with me for the rest of my existence.

    I was on a plane returning home to Dallas, Texas after completing my duty in Vietnam. There were no hometown parades for us veterans (退役老兵) from that 1 war and I had been warned about the unfriendliness from our countrymen at that time. 2, I was just trying to get home without incident.

    I sat, in uniform, in a window seat, 3 eye contact with my fellow passengers. No one was sitting in the seat next to me, which 4 my loneliness. A little girl, not more than 10 years old, suddenly 5 in the passage. She smiled and, without a word, 6 handed me a magazine. I accepted her 7 together with her quiet "welcome home". I turned to the window and wept. Her small 8 of caring was the first I had 9 in a long time.

    I believe in the 10 between strangers when we reach out to one another.

    Today, that young girl 11 has no memory of what happened years ago. I like to think of her as having grown up, continuing to 12 others and teaching her children to do the same. I know she might have been told to give me the "13" by her parents. It doesn't matter why she gave me the magazine. The 14 thing is she did.

    From then on, I have followed her 15 and tried, in different ways for 16 people, to do the same for them. I know that my 17 since then are all due to that little girl. Her offer of a magazine to a tired, scared and 18 soldier has echoed (产生回响) throughout my 19. I have to believe that my small gestures have the same 20 on others.

In October, I told the eight-year-olds whom I taught about my plan. "I'd like all of you to do1 jobs to earn some money," I said. Then we'll buy food fora(n)2 dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise."

Early in the Thanksgiving week, the boys and girls arrived in class with their 3 money. They had set tables , washed dishes and looked after younger siblings(兄弟姐妹). And now they couldn't wait to go 4 .

I supervised(监督) while they5 up and down the supermarket aisles. At last we headed toward the 6 pushing a cart filled with a7 and other food. Then someone8 a "necessity".

" Flowers!" Kristine cried. The group ran toward the holiday plants.

I advised, "You can't9 flowers. " " But Mrs Sherlock, we want flowers." I was finally 10 .

With all those gifts, we went to visit an old woman who had lived11 for many years. When seeing the flowers, the woman seemed 12 . "Do you like them?" Michael asked. The woman brightened up and 13 .

[ After a happy moment, we had to leave. Sitting in the 14 , we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye , then turned and walked across the room, past the turkey, straight to the flowers. She put her 15 in them. When she raised her head , there was a smile on her lips. ]

Kelli Boehle says her son Nik was an amazing and caring person. Nik was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer in 2008 when he was 17. He passed away in 2012. But Nik's kindness and generosity have lived on long after his death

After he was diagnosed and started treatment, Nik was granted a wish experience from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. "For just this period of time, we didn't think about cancer," Kelli Boehle said. "All we thought about was enjoying our time together." In 2009, Nik met another young man Nate, who was also going through cancer treatment. He'd been diagnosed a month after turning 18, and Nik learned he was too old to qualify for a wish. The night before Nik passed away, he asked his mother to help ensure that young adults fighting cancer could have their wishes come true too.

"It was like a seed he planted that just wouldn't stop coming into my mind," she said. In 2012, Kelli Boehle started Nik's Wish. The nonprofit grants wishes to young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who are battling cancer. Nate was the organization's first wish recipient. "It's meant to bring them joy and know that they're loved and that we're fighting for them, too," Kelli Boehle said.

Recently, 19-year-old Jordan Morrow received her wish to attend a Taylor Swift concert as part of a trip to Los Angeles. For Morrow, who has spent the last year battling brain cancer, going to the concert has done more than lift her spirits. "I think it's something to get me through whatever comes my way," she said. "And I'm thankful for Nik's Wish for that."

In the 1lyearssinceNik passed away, the organization has granted more than 300wishes across more than 30 states. In the beginning, Kelli Boehle says she wasn't sure she could be a wish maker and work closely with the young adults.But now, it'sher favoritething to do.