During the fifth grade, I was often bullied(欺凌) by a boy.1I told it to my teacher. Kyle's bullying never stopped. I was very2and full of hate until he went to another school the next year.

    One night in eighth grade I3again the bullying Kyle had put me through. I waited for the rush of anger I'd always4when thinking about Kyle,5none came. I tried again, thinking about the marks he'd6so many times on the tops of my feet, the words, the pain…but I felt no hate for him.7I felt a small beating of pity inside my heart. This boy, who had8my fifth grade experience, had probably been9his own troubles then. He was obviously10at the world and maybe he was simply taking that11out on me. It was no excuse for what he did, but it was a12.

    I felt as if I had an13understanding. Being angry with Kyle for what he had done was like drinking poison. By holding my hate for Kyle14. I was only hurting myself. That night, I15to let old wounds heal(愈合), and I forgave(宽恕) my fifth grade bully.

    In letting go of that pain, I felt great16. I wasn't letting a three-year-old incident17me. In that way, I guess forgiveness is the most18tool humans have been blessed with. Because, with it, we can let go of19burdens and truly live our own lives. Who knew an eleven-year-old boy could20me that?

    There is a fine line between a parent who is active and open-minded and one that doesn't know when to let go. As my daughter, Nicole, prepares to leave home for college, I'm discovering how hard it is to stay on the 1 side of this line. One day, it was time to prepare for dinner. When I held 2 the apron strings (围裙带) connecting us, Nicole, eager to 3 independence, tried to loosen my grasp (掌控). What resulted was a (an) 4 mother-daughter, push-me, pull-you kind of tango.

    For the past two years, it's gone like this:

    Mother's question: “Have you thought of taking an advanced class (大学预备课程) so that you can earn college credit (学分)?”

    Daughter's 5: “No, I'm not interested in that.”

…

    Two months ago, she was 6 into a great university. However, I was still the mother having a 7 time letting go. The night before the introductory meeting of the university, I had read the course catalog (目录) carefully and 8 the courses which I thought looked good. We met on the campus the next afternoon, and Nicole's face 9with excitement. “I have had all my timetables of courses ready,” she said. “Already?” I was astonished, 10 she should have discussed it with me. I examined what he chose. Nicole hadn't taken a (an) 11 one of the courses I had suggested. Every course she had chosen 12 suited her interests. Just then I saw a mature, strong young woman with a 13 mind and the ability to shape her future. She no longer needed her mother 14 every decision she made. I felt proud, though still a bit 15.

    I 16 the lessons carefully. Nicole has struggled to learn over the past 18 years the following things: 17, sympathy, and hard work. There have been a few holes along the way. 18, she is well-equipped and eager to 19 the future. The next step, I recognized, was mine to take: giving my daughter and myself the 20 we both needed.

A Doll from Santa

    Alice's mother died when she was five years old. That year was 1925, and life was hard. Alice, who grew up to be my mother, told me that her family was too 1to even afford to give her a doll.

    One afternoon in December 1982, I was decorating the tree to prepare for the Christmas season. A young lady 2me with a sample of her handiwork: beautiful handmade 3. She was taking orders for Christmas. I decided to get one for my daughter, Katie, who was almost five years old. Then I had an idea. I asked the lady if she could make me a 4doll for my mother — one with gray hair and a pair of glasses: a grandmother doll.

    The doll maker felt that this idea was certainly 5and took it on as a creative challenge. So I placed my Christmas 6: two dolls, one blonde and one gray-haired for Christmas morning! Things really started to fall into place 7a friend had told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home to 8my Katie her presents!

    Christmas Day arrived and at the planned time, 9did Santa Claus. Katie was delighted that Santa had come to see her at her 10house, the happiest I had ever seen her in her young life. My mother was enjoying watching her granddaughter's 11to the visit from this special guest. As Santa turned to leave, he looked once more into his bag and took out one more 12. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, surprised by her name being called, 13that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift, which was accompanied by a message card that read: For Alice,

    I was cleaning out my sleigh before my 14this year and came across this package that was supposed to be delivered on December 25, 1925. The present inside has 15, but I felt that you might 16wish to have it. Many apologies for the17of the gift.

    Love, Santa Claus

    My mother's reaction was one of the greatest deeply 18scenes I have ever witnessed. She couldn't speak but only gazed at the doll she had 19fifty-seven years as tears of joy running down her cheeks. That doll, given by “Santa”, made my mother the happiest “20” alive.

    There was a businessman who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

    He sat on the park bench, head in hands,1if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

    Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is2you.” he said.

    After listening to the executive, the old man said: “I believe I can help you.”

    He asked the man his name, wrote out a3, and pushed it into his hand saying: “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.”

    Then he turned and disappeared as4as he had come.

    The businessman saw in his hand a check for $500,000,5by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

    “I can6my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But7, he decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the8to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

    With renewed9, he negotiated better deals. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

    Exactly one year later, he returned to the10with the uncashed check. At the11time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to12the check and share his success story, a13came running up and grabbed the old man.

    “I'm so delighted I14him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's15escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller.”

    And she led the old man away16the arm.

    The businessman just stood there,17.All year long he'd been buying and selling.18he had half a million dollars behind him.

    Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or19, that had turned his life around. It was his20self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

    Clara Daly was seated on an Alaska Airlines flight when a flight attendant asked a(n) 1question over the loudspeaker, "Does anyone on board know American Sign Language?"

    Clara, 15 at the time 2 the call button. The flight attendant came by and 3 the situation. "We have a passenger on the plane who's 4 and deaf." she said. The passenger seemed to want something, but he couldn't 5 his message.

    Clara 6 to have been studying ASL for the past year and knew she'd be able to finger spell into the man's palm. So she 7 her seat belt and walked toward the seat of Tim Cook, then 64.

    8 taking his hand  she 9, "Are you OK?" Cook asked for some water.

    When it arrived, Clara returned to her seat. She came by again a bit later because he wanted to know the time. On her third 10, she stopped and stayed a while.

    "He didn't need anything. He was lonely and wanted to 11." Clara says.

    So for the next hour, that's what they did. She talked about her plans for the future. Cook told Clara12 he had gradually become blind over time and 13 stories of his days as a traveling salesman. Even though he couldn't see her, she "looked 14 at his face with such kindness," a passenger reported, "We can see she smiled with happiness, 15 she made a difference in someone's life."

    "Clara was amazing." a flight attendant told Alaska Airlines in a blog interview. "You could tell Tim was very 16 to have someone he could speak to, and she was such a(n) 17."

    Cook's 18, "Best trip I've ever had."

    Learned a lot. The best thing for 19 is to learn something. Learning is the only thing that never 20.

    A mum of two was shocked. She went downstairs to get a drink and found a1stranger asleep on her sofa. The 26-year-old man had let himself in and2his shoes at Elaine McDade's door while she was upstairs watching TV in bed with her children. She later3the man had made a mistake4his parents used to own her house.

    Engineer Thomas Airlie, from South Lanarkshire, didn't5that none of the belongings in the house were those of his parents' when he lay on the sofa for a6. "When I saw him, I7him up straight away," Elaine said. "I even asked him if he used to live here, or if he lived in the same8now and just got the wrong door."

    Elaine said Thomas9when she woke him up. "I10my husband and he agreed to come home immediately.11, my husband didn't even know where he lived so he12the man at the police station instead," she said. She later posted a photo of the13Thomas on Facebook explaining that it was the only time when she had ever forgotten to lock the door. She wrote that Thomas was "14" but added, "Lesson learned again. Lock your doors."

    She sent him the15and got a message from him on Facebook saying "Oh, my God. I can't apologize16."

    Thomas had been out with friends when he17got a taxi back to his parents' old house,18his current home.

    His friend Robbie McKean said they will never let him19his experience. "Our friend had a baby boy not long ago so we were drinking a lot to celebrate it. I can happily say he doesn't walk into people's houses and sleep on their sofa on a(n)20basis."