I truly feel that my mother led me here, to Morzaine, and to my future as a happy wife and businesswoman. When Mum1  in October 2007, I was a cook. In December that year, a pearl (珍珠) necklace Mum had left me 2 . I was distraught (忧心如焚的). Some days later, I was 3  that a guy who was working with us that day，“could probably have made a fortune 4  the necklace he found”5 ， he returned it. When he heard how I'd6  Mum for six months before her death, he said, “Winter is coming, and I think this Christmas would be  7  for you. Why not go out to the Alps(阿尔卑斯山)for a couple of weeks？”

    I came to Morzaine, a small,8 village in the Alps and immediately fell in love with it. What was 9 to be a stopgap (权宜之计) trip turned into a new life. I kept travelling between London and here and felt 10  than I had in months. In December 2008, I was11as a hotel manager and moved here full time.

    A month later, I met Paul, who was traveling here. We fell in love. In the beginning, I didn't want to discuss 12 ， because the sadness of losing Mum 13 felt great. Paul understood that and never  14 me. But, by summer, we got married. A year later, we used his savings, and the money from the sale of Mum's house, to build our own 15. We want to give our guests a  16 feel, so each room is themed(以……为主题) around memories from our lives. There are also styles to remind me of Mum—a tiny chair which 17 be in her bedroom is set in one room.

    We are having a wonderful life and Mum18 naturally part of it,19  there's no way we would be here if it wasn't for the 20 she gave me. I know she's here in spirit, keeping an eye on us.

A Welcome Gift

    Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them 1side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud2filled the room and made them feel very happy.

    The next morning, 3, their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a 4under their door during the night. One of their neighbor had written to complain(抱怨) about the sound of the piano. Dario's mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it. But he said that they were all 5people and he couldn't imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their 6and apologize for their playing.

    “Maybe we could go and7everyone in person.” his mother said.

    “What if we invited them to come here for a 8instead? Dario asked.

    They both loved the  9. Over the next few days, they sent out invitations and prepared desserts10their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

    Finally, the day of the party11. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to12. One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, 13Dario's mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

    “I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I14 that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note. I hope you don't think I disliked the playing.”

    Dario's mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “I think maybe we15you an apology.” she said. “I didn't16how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.

    “You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert said. “I like what you play! Just not so loud at night.” She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such17music.”

    “These songs are beautiful music.” Dario's mother said. “We will be 18to play them in the evening.”

    “And we won't play so loud or late!” Dario said. He was already looking forward to19  the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother's face. It gave him a feeling of20and made him feel that they were home at last.

    The school held a teacher-parent meeting. A mother was asked to attend his son's school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's 1, she said she would go. This was the first time that his classmates and teacher 2 his mother and he felt 3 of her appearance. Although she was a 4 woman, there was a severe scar (疤痕) that 5 nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to 6 why or how she got the scar.

    The people at the meeting were 7 by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother in spite of the scar, 8 the little boy was still embarrassed (尴尬) and 9 himself from everyone. However, he could 10 a conversation between his mother and his teacher.

    The teacher asked 11, “How did you get the scar on your face?”

    The mother replied, “12 my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. Everyone was 13 afraid to go in because the fire was 14, so I went in. As I was running toward his bed, I saw a long piece of wood coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked 15 but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She 16 the burned side of her face.” This scar will be 17, but to this day, I have never 18 what I did.”

    Hearing this，the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He held her in his arms and felt a great 19 of the sacrifice (牺牲) that his mother had made for him. He held her hand 20 for the rest of the day.

    The day I received my letter of acceptance to NewYork university, I was extremely excited. It was my dream university. And my1 were pleased for me. But they also hadn't2 me to get into such a competitive school. In fact, the best thing they ever did for me was to 3  me from doing things4 - indeed, when I was in elementary school, they offered to buy me a present5I got a C.

    It 6 when I was in the third grade. An only child in an Asian family, I had just 7 with my family to Los Angeles. Months into the third grade, I developed a strong feeling of8 about getting bad grades. Seeing my anxiety, Dad said, "Kate, tell you what. If you get a C or 9, I'll buy you a present. If you score higher than that, I won't buy you anything, because you won't10 it."

    Clearly dad wasn't the 11Asian tiger parent, pressuring me to work tirelessly for the best12, and neither was my mom. They didn't want to push me. They wanted me to be13 and healthy. Dad's 14  of a "failing grade" gift amazingly15 my worries and reassure. What's more, I16getting A's and B's throughout high school, but without the added stress and fear of failing. I think it was my parents' lack of stress on grades that gave me 17 to encourage my own desire for achievements. I now realize I was 18 when I thought I didn't receive a present from my dad that day. He gave me two invaluable19 : the space to develop my own desire for excellence, and the healthy mind to 20it.

    One Saturday morning I decided to walk into Liverpool city center and buy myself something. I didn't1 anything, and I was just going to spend some2! I stopped into a general3 to buy myself some sweets. While I was making up my mind, the door4 and in walked a girl, four years old at the most. She was wearing a summer dress and sandals(凉鞋)5 it was a bitterly cold day. She was not too6, obviously from a poor family. She walked up to the counter(柜台), 7 up and placed a fifty pence coin on the glass. Then, she proudly announced she had8 this up for her little9 a teddy bear as a birthday gift and she10 that one there. The woman behind the11 told the little girl the teddy bear cost12 50 pence. The little girl tried another one, and another one, and another one.

    I knew that13 of the bears on display could be bought for 50 pence. I also knew that I could 14 buy the best bear there 15 the money I was going to waste that day－16 did I want to encourage a little girl to take money from 17？

    The little girl changed her mind when I 18 to buy a teddy bear for her. "Oh, well," she 19 to the world. "I'll just give him mine then."

    "I'll just give him mine." Didn't sound like she was going to give him ONE of her teddies. She was going to give her little brother HER teddy, probably the 20 teddy she had!

There's one patient that Sarah Rose Black still thinks about. Back in 2019, the nursing team at Toronto's Cancer Center called to ask if she could reach out to a patient who had been there for about a week. The man was struggling, and unwilling to communicate with workers or be part of any activities. 

Black isn't a doctor or a nurse. Since 2013 she has played an important role for patients at the center as a music therapist (治疗专家). On any day, she might see one person who's anxious about an operation, another who's in need of a calm moment.

So, Black walked into the patient's room and introduced herself. She asked if she could sit and offer to play some music. In an effort to persuade him, she said, "If you don't like it, you can just tell me to leave." After some gentle urging, the man in his 70s, who had lung cancer, told her a few musicians he liked and then turned away to look out the window. But as she started to play one of his favorites, a change came over him. He turned towards Black and started to cry. 

She stopped playing. "Do you want me to continue?" "Certainly," he said through tears. "It was as if the music went places that nothing else could," recalls Black. The music showed up at a moment when it felt like a hug. 

As Sarah Rose Black says, people have been connecting with music for their whole lives—she is just helping them use it again at a time when they need it most. 

"We have a heartbeat, so we have a drum (鼓) inside us; we are wired to be musical people," she says. She smiles softly as she reflects back on the experience.