Anorexia nervosa (神经性厌食症) is an eating disorder that I struggled with for most of my middle school years and a part of my high school years.

    At Riverview,1was usually a nightmare for me. As I 2 the dining hall, all the eyes would be fixed upon my bony figure. I would take my place at a table full of friends and 3 to enjoy a "normal" lunch. The 4 was that I would not always eat lunch, and that greatly 5 my friends. They would watch to make sure that I was eating properly, almost 6 food into my mouth.

    And then, I transferred to Madison High School. I decided not to tell anyone at that school about my eating disorder since I had almost 7 by that time. Strangely, I stopped fearing lunch when I started at Madison. No one knew that I had an eating disorder,8 they did not care what I ate. This 9 a huge amount of stress from my life. It was still hard for me to eat in front of others, which is 10for an anorexic, but I was able to put some of my 11 aside.

    I was thankful for the students at Riverview, but they knew me only as an anorexic. My friends cared about my health, but they 12 to care about me as a person. Truthfully, all I wanted was for them to 13 me and not to fix on my eating disorder.

    The students at Madison took the time to know who I 14 was. They had no idea that I had been an anorexic, so that a particular label did not 15 their opinions of me. I was finally 16 for my talents and achievements, not my failures. I was honored as a good student. I was no longer afraid to show my true 17.

    My days as an anorexic taught me many lessons that I would never 18. They taught me about life and how to be a better friend. I learned about the joy of 19 tasks such as eating lunch. I appreciated the people who helped me to see that there is more 20 life than having an eating disorder.

    I was shopping in a supermarket last night when I saw a homeless woman with a trolley(手推车)full of all her things. She was sitting inside to keep1 . I went up to her and tried to give her 2for something to eat. She wouldn't 3 it. I said I wanted to help her4 she said that if enough money was given to her that day and she had money was given to her that day and she had money on her, other homeless people would 5 it from her while she slept.

    I 6 that I wanted to help her and asked if I could buy her something warm.7, she said no. She thanked me and said how 8she was that I had spoken to her and offered 9 . We introduced ourselves and she said that when I saw her the next time, she would 10 accept help.

    I walked out into the cold winter 11 and gave the money to a homeless man who was freezing. I asked him his name,12 I always want to know, and I told him mine. H appeared to have had a drinking or drug problem, but I was 13 that he accepted my help.

    I had this 14 that stayed with me. I felt that I had been in the presence of someone really special earlier. I always 15 what it would be like to be in a homeless person's shoes, I know how16 I am and how grateful I am for what I 17in my life.

    I learned a valuable 18 from the lady I met: Not all 19 people will take money or help if they feel enough has been given to them that day. She was grateful for the day. I will make sure I 20 her again.

    My car needed some mechanical work that I could not do myself. Since the garage I had been taking my car to had 1, my friend Dave gave me a recommendation: D's Auto Repair.

    I was pleasantly 2 to discover that the owner of D's was a mechanic who had worked on my car several years earlier. 3 he was an employee at a gas station near my house. I knew that his work was good.

    I 4 the paperwork for the repair and 5 while D took a phone call from another customer. As I sat there, I looked around the small office to keep myself 6 A framed newspaper article caught my attention. The headline 7: "Local Dairy Farmer Kills Whole Herd.” The article was about the 8 of a fifth-generation dairy farmer during the polluted milk scare in Michigan several years earlier. Dairy cows were becoming 9 a disease that was affecting the milk supply. The fifth-generation dairy farmer paid to have all of his cows 10. It was found that out of the entire herd, only a few were were infected. Because no one could 11 that the other cows were totally 12, he had the herd killed and buried to make consumers feel rest assured(放心). The farmer's insurance did not cover his 13 because the state had not issued a(n) 14 for him to get rid of the herd. Asked why he did it, the farmer replied "Because it was the right thing to do.

    I asked D why he 15 the article on the wall. I thought that he might be related to or 16 knew the farmer. He said he had never met the man, but that the farmer was a(n) 17 to him and set a standard for integrity(正直), trust and honesty. He said that is how he 18 his auto Repair business.

    I was now doubly 19 by both the farmer and D. The next year, 20 my recommendation, my son started a nine-month mechanics apprenticeship(学徒) at D's Auto repair.

    Valerie was very worried about her dad. For some time now she had noticed he was1his hair. One day, she asked him, "Daddy, every day you have less hair, 2 is that?" Her father smiled and said, “It's the hair thief. He visits my 3during the night when I' m asleep. One by one he pulls out my hair, and there's no way to 4 him.”

    This worried Valerie, but she was 5to help her dad. That night she stayed6as long as she could. When she was 7 her dad and mom had fallen asleep, she took a hammer and went to their bedroom slowly and8.She didn't want the hair thief to 9 her. When she arrived at her father's side, she carefully inspected her father's head in order to catch the hair thief as soon as he 10 . Before long, she saw a shadow on her father's head and she11 it with the hammer

    Her father 12 a loud cry and got out of bed at once. He turned the 13on, and trembling with14, he saw Valerie waving her hammer in the air. Daddy. I 15got him. But it looks like he 16! "said Valerie. Meanwhile the mother17She burst into 18when she knew what had happened

    So Valerie's father had to explain that the hair thief didn't exist, and that losing hair is something that just happens naturally to most fathers. Valerie still 19 about her daddy, but she no longer waited for the hair thief. 20, she bought her father a very nice sleeping hat.

    Every evening, I take a walk around the neighborhood. It has become a (an) 1. Even if I have already walked with someone or done another type of 2. I get out for this last mile or more. This is my time to 3 the day.

    Walking at 4 through my neighborhood brings the sounds of the 5 singing in the pond nearby and the sounds of the city train in the distance, occasionally interrupted by faraway 6 coming to and from the hospital. The sounds of these aircrafts remind me that whoever is being7 is probably having a much 8 day than me.

    Sometimes these walks are my way to recall events on the recent days. Or they are a way to 9 a problem or to be creative without interruptions of day-to-day life at home. 10 on other days, I try to be in the moment and just listen and look around in wonder, or be in gratitude for all the 11 things in life. Tonight when I walked, I just listened. When the moon is out and full or it's a dark evening with the stars shining, I love trying to 12 into the universe and 13 what is really out there.

    Everyone has a story. I spend some time with Mike. He has already walked 1,200 miles this year. 14 being diagnosed (诊断) with diabetes (糖尿病) four years ago, he started walking 5 or 6 15 every day. He has 16 64 pounds and his life has 17 a lot. On this 18, I also got to know Phillips. She walks every day. She is considering hiking the Camino de Santiago after watching the movie “The Way”.

    Just as last month has come and gone, this 19 will come and go. This is a 20 to go out today, take a walk and think of how you're going to pursue your dreams.

    One night, when I was eight, my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. "Sweetie, my company wants to 1 me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you that you've done 2 and allowing you to skip a grade, but you'll have to 3 your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?" She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was puzzled. The question kept me 4 for the rest of the night. I had said "yes" but for the first time, I realized the 5 decisions adults had to make.

    For almost four years, my mother would 6 us from Brazil every day. Every evening I'd 7 wait for the phone to ring and then tell her every detail of my day. A phone call, however, could never replace her 8 and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

    During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large 9  apartment, I became 10 how lonely my mother must have been in Brazil herself. It was then that I started to appreciate the tough choices she had to make on 11 family and work. 12  difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn't know whether you made the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with passion and a 13 attitude.

    Back home, I 14 myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she 15 to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be 16. I learnt how to take care of myself and set high but achievable17.

    My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the 18 has really taught me. Sacrifices 19 in the end. The separation between us has proved to be 20 for me.