Dear Aihua,

    How are you? I've been busy arranging my 1 with my brother, Colin. We plan to 2 a few weeks travelling before he is admitted to the univers ity. We will 3 so many exciting places and do lots of 4 things.

    My first 5 is Morocco, in northern Africa. We're going to 6 camels through the Sahara Desert. I 7 it will be very hot, dry and 8 there. Even though it may feel uncomfortable to sit on a 9 for almost a week, I still look forward to it.

    Then we are going to travel down the River Nile. We will 10 white-water rafting there. It's so 11 that we have to wear special clothing, a helmet and a life jacket for protection just 12 the rafts gets turned upside down or sinks.

    After that, we will live with the 13 people in Kenya and 14 local customs(习俗). We'll eat and drink 15 they do, including cow's blood!

    Due to the 16 walk we have to cover everyday, I need to buy a large, strong, light backpack to carry my 17 of food and water. During the day, we'll walk 18 the land, following the 19 of big animals. Of course, I will try to 20 the animals to take some good photos. I will email you as soon as I come back.

                                                                                                                                                                              Love

                                                                                                                                                                              Toby

    About one year ago, a couple with three children moved into the apartment next door to me. I never heard any noise from the children. but I often heard the parents 1 shouting at the kids, not in a nice tone, but in a(n) 2 one.

We often 3 in the hallway. I always greeted them, 4 the only answer I ever got was a "hello" from the eight-year-old girl. I usually 5 to see my doctor and one day when I returned they were just 6 their apartment and the little girl was 7 the outside door open for the others. I 8 in the car doing 9 things because I wasn't eager to be snubbed (冷落) again. Finally, I got out of my car and walked towards the door. The parents were telling her to 10 to get into the car, but the little girl was still holding the door, 11 me! I hurried although I was still in pain from my injury.

    I forgot to tell her how 12 I was for her kindness. I wrote a note saying how much her act of kindness had 13an old man's heart.

    The next day there was a(n) 14 on my door and it was the little girl and her father. She was quite 15 of her behavior and thanked me. Then I noticed her mother standing there, too. Her parents 16 me. Too.

    Now when we met in the hallway we always greeted each other, in a friendly17.

    Last night there was a heavy snow. I looked out at my car and 18 how I was going to keep my doctor's 19 because I could only walk for a short time. This morning when I opened the front door, all the snow was removed.

    Isn't it 20 that the small kind act of an 8-year-old girl can change so many things for the better? It is said that good things come from small acts.

    Last Christmas while staying with my parents, I 1 across some old love letters that my parents wrote to each other. These letters were all piled up in a basket, dirty and 2 with dust.3 to read and sort them, I asked them if I could take the letters back to my Illinois home. They agreed.

    As I carefully opened each letter, all of them delicate with age, I discovered a new page 4unknown to me in this private chapter of my parents' lives.

    My father used to 5 in the army. So his letters were full of frontline  6 of the things about the war. Each of my mother's letters was marked 7 her 1944 dark red lipstick kiss. I was 8 to these letters like a magnet (磁铁).

    Just six weeks after our Christmas visit, Daddy became very 9and was hospitalized. This time, he was fighting a 10 kind of war. As I sat by his bedside, we discussed the 11 . He told me how much receiving those lipstick-kissed letters had 12to him when he had been so far from home.

    It so happened that the next day would be February 14. From the 13letters I chose the card my father had sent Mother in 1944 and brought it to my father's bedside.

    At his bedside, I joked with him, saying 14, “Today is Valentine's Day, don't you want to send Mother a present?” He became more 15when I handed him the old 16. He carefully opened it and took out the card, and when he 17 it, his eyes were filled with tears.

    My father, in a voice tight with18read the loving19he'd sent to my mother fifty-six years earlier. And this time, he could read it to her 20.

    All kinds of people come in to have their shoes shined. Most folks are friendly. But this man was different.

    “How much do you make a week, boy？” he asked me. I felt he was 1 at me. He kept giving a sharp 2 around every now and then. All the time I kept 3 where I'd seen his face. Suddenly I knew. I'd seen his4in the post office many times. He was the big robber 5 by the police in three states!

    “You know，” he was saying, “it's imagination that people lack. You'll never get anywhere as a 6 boy.”

    I kept brushing away on his shoes as 7 as I could. The sooner I finished, the better. He said, “When I was sixteen, I had8 $2,500 of my own.”

    That reminded me of something. Was it $2,500 or $5,000 or $7, 500? I wasn't 9. I knew a big reward was 10 for him.

    But what could I do about it?11him with a can of shoe polish? A man of his 12 could grind (碾碎) me into the floor. If only someone would come in!

    He kept talking away. “Along with13 ， it takes courage. The courage to take a chance. Start something on a shoestring.”

    Suddenly I saw Officer Dailey 14 across the street. Then, real fast, I began tightening the man's shoestrings.

    The policeman was at the window when I cried out, “Officer Dailey,15！ This man's a robber.”

    “16 ， ” the man shouted angrily. He started to jump off the stand. But he didn't go the way he 17. He fell flat on his face and knocked himself out cold.

    “That was pretty 18 of you，” the officer said. “You'll get a reward of $7,500 for him.”

    “Well, it really wasn't my 19 ， ” I said. “It was his. He told me if you had courage and imagination you could start something big on a 20.”

    The first time 10-year-old Jordie Rowland came into the barber shop, it was a disaster.

    Jordie, who has autism (自闭症), 1 with his parents to run outside the moment he entered the shop. I ended up 2 around the shop with him that day. I got in a few cuts 3 stopped the haircut when I saw Jordie was 4. Cutting hair can be 5 for some children with autism. Jordie was no different. I felt I'd 6 and it made me 7 to learn more about autism so I could connect with him and take away his 8.

    After the first 9 haircut, I suggested to Jordie's parents they bring him back every two weeks at closing time. That went on for a few months. His hair was long. I could 10 cut it properly. I'd get a couple of cuts in, and then he'd just go crazy. That was a really 11 time. But I knew we had to just keep going.

    I even went to his house to give it a try. No 12. Then the owner of the barber shop 13 me for allowing a customer to come in after closing time. Discouraged, I 14 that job, and soon opened my own shop. Every two weeks, Jordie would 15 my shop after it was closed. This lasted about eight months.

    A few weeks ago, we made 16. I sang "The Wheels on the Bus" to him. I didn't know he was 17 nursery rhymes (儿歌). I was just trying to 18 him. He looked at me as if he were mesmerized (迷住). I gave him a full haircut for the first time. I realized our slow, two-year effort had 19.

    Two weeks later, Jordie let me do it again. I often don't charge them the cost of the haircut. Maybe the reason I do something like this is to increase my 20 of the kids like him.

Three years ago, I was working as a lawyer. For a year or longer, my work was beginning to suffer. I 1 got to the point where I couldn't concentrate — one of the early signs that something was 2. I kept forgetting things. Legal work is complicated, and you have to have a good 3 to do that work. So I 4 my job. I talked to my doctor about my family's 5 of Alzheimer's; my father and grandfather had it. Then I was asked to do some tests. It 6 that I have early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

    Needless to say, my life has 7. My husband Dan retired soon after my diagnosis (诊断) 8 we spend a lot of time together. 9 going to work, I used to spend my days having lunch with my friends and 10 my mother. I could drive up to see her before I started getting 11. The situation wasn't 12, but I'd had to turn around enough times that it frightened me. Now I 13 drive out of town. I stay in town.

    I am an independent person, but now I have to 14 some of that independence. My husband and I mostly do the shopping together because I 15 the list.

    Dan and I are enjoying life while we can. Some people are saving money for trips years down the road. We're not 16, we take a trip every year.

    The one thing I wish I could change is people's 17 when I tell them I have Alzheimer's. They shut down. I can still 18; it's not like suddenly I can't remember anything. This happened with my father. He was very 19, and he had lots of friends. When his friends learned he got Alzheimer's, they wouldn't come to visit him. I think people should learn more about Alzheimer's and 20 that people with the disease can still socialize.