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 I 1 a hand rest on my shoulder. I looked up to 2  my grandfather. “It isn't 3 , is it, Billy?” he said softly.

    He gently 4  my hand in his, and then we walked, hand in hand, to the front yard, 5 a huge red rose-bush sat alone.

    “What do you see here, Billy?” he asked. I looked at the flowers, not knowing 6  to say, and then answered, “I see something soft and 7 ,  Grandpa.”

    He pulled me 8 . “It isn't just the roses that are beautiful, Billy. It's that special place in your heart that makes them so.” “Billy, I 9 these roses when my first son was born. It was my 10  of saying ‘thank you' to God. I 11 to 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 good-bye, Billy. Never 12  to the sadness and the loneliness. Instead, I want you to remember the joy and the 13  when you first said hello to a friend.”

    A year later, my grandpa became very 14 . Then all members of the family were 15  back, and I returned to the old house. When it came to my 16 , I took his hand as 17  as he had once taken mine.

    “Hello, Grandpa,” I 18 . His eyes slowly opened and said, “Hello, my friend.” With a brief (短迅的) 19  he died. Suddenly, and truly, I knew what he had 20  about never saying good-bye — about refusing to give in to sadness.

    A man worked in a post office. His job was to handle(处理) all 1 that had unclear addresses. One day he came across a letter which was 2to God. He opened it and it 3 ， “Dear God，I am an 83­year­old woman and I live on a very small pension(养老金).Yesterday someone stole my 4.There was a hundred dollars in it，which was all the money I had 5 until my next pension comes. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving Day，and I have invited my last two friends for 6.Without that money，I have 7 to buy food with. I have no family to 8 ， and you are my only 9.Can you please help me？” The man was 10 ， and went around showing the letter to all the other workers. Each of them 11 their wallets and donated a few dollars. By the time he 12 his showing，he had collected 96 dollars. 13then he sent it to the old woman. Thanksgiving Day came and went. The workers 14forgot about it. Then one day，there came another letter from the old lady to God.All the 15gathered around when the letter was16.It read，“Dear God，how can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me？Because of your kindness，I was able to 17 a lovely dinner for my friends. We had a very 18 day，and I told my friends about your19 gift. Thank you very much！” Seeing this，all the workers felt 20 with the nice thing they had done. They looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

    I was having a period of bad health. I had one operation after another. I was falling 1 faster than the doctors could put me back together. But I just couldn't bear the operation, the hospital stay, the long recovery and the physical therapy（康复治疗）. I told my doctor I was going to try 2 else.

    I'd discovered that walking gave me a little 3. So I started walking. The first day, my wife 4 off our steep Silver Lake hill to a flat street. She got me out of the car, and I walked about two blocks 5 asking to be taken home. The next day, I walked about four 6.

    Slowly, feeling a little 7 every day, I began to walk a mile or more. I even 8some hills to my route. I became interested in the network of public stairways around Silver Lake I made a 9 of it and walked every public staircase in Silver Lake. That went pretty well, so I 10 onto Echo Park. I was feeling better, so I kept going. The search finally 11 “Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles' a book 12 in the spring of 2010. By then, I had 13. I'd been walking at least an hour a day for three years. My life 14 returned to normal.

    In three years of walks, I've met dozens of people who'd had 15 experiences of rebirth or recovery. One man told me he'd lost 80 pounds walking the secret stairs and was dating for the first time in a decade. One woman told me she'd 16 knee operation. Another told me she'd been 17 to start ballroom dancing again.

    All I'd 18 from the walks was relief from pain. What I got was 19, community and a whole new experience of my city. Out of the car, on my feet and moving at walking pace, I 20 Los Angeles for the first time.

    It was Mother's Day and I was shopping at the local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were1, we realized that only minutes earlier an 2woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground.3was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock.4, a lot of people stopped to help out.

    5we were walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very6about what had happened to the elderly couple. He7to me," Mom, it's not much fun falling over in front of 8."Seeing that there was a flower stall (摊位) at the front of the supermarket, he added, "Why shouldn't we9the lady a flower? It will make her feel better." I was10that he'd come up with this11 idea. So we went over and told the flower seller12we wanted. "Just take it," she replied. "I13take your money for such a wonderful14."

    By now medical staff had arrived, and were15the injured woman. We gave the flower to the woman's husband and I told him it was16my son. At that, the old man started crying and said, "Thank you very much." He then turned to me, "You have a 17son. Happy Mother's Day to you."

    The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from.18being badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with19in her eyes and gave him a little20.

    It started on a Friday 1 when the 5-year-old and his older brother were playing 2their home near the resort town of Aspen, Colorado. Hearing the sound of 3, the mother raced to her front yard to find a 4 sight: A mountain lion was bent over her 5-year-old son, biting him. The poor boy was completely under the cat and was 5 to get free.

    So the mother 6 she charged the animal, pulled away one of its 7 suddenly with a lot of force and discovered her son's whole head was in its mouth. She didn't back down. The mother 8 the lion's mouth and got it open,9 the boy. She then quickly picked him up and ran away.

    The boy's father had just returned from a run when the 10 occurred. He 11 into the car with his wife and son and called 911 shortly before 8 p.m. As they 12 to a hospital in Aspen. The boy suffered cuts to his 13, face and neck. The mother 14 bite marks on her hand and scratches on her leg. Aspen valley Hospital reported that the child was not seriously injured and in 15 condition and has since been 16 to children's Hospital in Denver for his recovery.

    The mountain lion was estimated to be about 2 years old and was not fully grown. It was, perhaps, forced out to hunt on its own. Young lions may be keen on easy 17, like pets and small children.18, it wasn't a big cat. Had it been a 110-pound lion- which was once seen around there - this would have been a much 19 story.

    The mother, who had to physically remove the lion's paws from her son's face, is credited with 20 his life. She's a real hero.

    I still remember the first day of school our professor introduced a little old lady named Rose to us. I was curious about what might have 1  her to be taking on this challenge at her age. "I always 2 having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me. I like listening to this "time machine" as she 3 her wisdom and experience with me.

    At the end of the term, we 4 Rose to make a speech to our football team. As she began to deliver her 5 speech, she dropped her note card on the 6 . A little embarrassed, she simply said, "I'm sorry. This whiskey is 7 me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know." As we laughed, she 8 her throat and began, "We do not stop 9 because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are some secrets to staying  10 , being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find 11 every day. Have a dream. When you 12your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are 13 and don't even know it! There is a huge 14  between growing older and growing up.  15 you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one 16 thing, you will turn twenty years old. That doesn't 17 any talent or ability. The elderly usually don't have18 for what they did, but rather for things they did not do."

    One week after graduation, Rose 19 peacefully in her sleep. We will remember the wonderful woman who taught us by example that it's never too late to be all we can20 be.