Each year her husband sent her valentine roses, tied with pretty bows, and a card. The card would 1say, "I love you even more than last year on this day."

    The year he2, the roses were delivered to her door as usual. The card said, "Be my valentine. My love for you will always3with every passing year." She thought this was the4 time that the roses would appear. She5he ordered roses6without knowing that he would7.He always liked to do things ahead. Then, if he got busy, everything would work out 8.She put 9 in a very special vase, and then placed the vase beside the portrait of his smiling face. She would sit for hours, staring at his picture and the roses.

    A year went by, 10it was tough to live without him. Then, on Valentine's Day, the doorbell rang, and she saw roses sitting 11 her door. She brought the roses in, and then looked at them in surprise. Later she 12 the flower­ shop and asked them to explain 13 valentine roses were sent to her.

    The owner replied,"I know your husband passed away a year ago. The flowers you14today were paid for two years ago. Your husband always planned ahead. Here is 15 of many years. You'll get them every year till... and he also wrote a special little16for you...he did this years ago. He said, 'If you find out that I'm no longer here, the card should be sent to my wife the following year.'"

    She thanked him and hung up the phone, her tears 17 her face. She found a card among the roses and read it slowly, "Hello, my love. I know it's been a year since I was gone. I hope it's not too hard for you to overcome. I know you must be 18 and the pain is real. The 19 we shared made everything so beautiful in life. I loved you more than20can say. Please try not to be too sad. That is why the roses will be sent to you for years."

    Last fall I hung outside my window a bird feeder(喂鸟的食槽). Knowing 1about wild birds, I 2that3 I hung this bird feeder outside, numbers of beautiful birds would be swooping(飞扑)to my new addition. However, days, weeks, and months4, NO BIRDS.

    I asked so many people, “What to do？5 was I doing wrong？”“Nothing, ”most of them replied, “just6！”So I waited and waited and waited, trying everything7to attract these birds. I cleaned off the deck(平台), 8the feed, and washed the feeder. I9 made the cat go out the other door！But nothing seemed to10. So I waited with patience and11.

    Two months later, on a Saturday afternoon, I 12 ！What came to my eyes was the most beautiful bird I have ever seen in my life！All of a13 , hundreds of birds were14 from everywhere!

    What a beautiful15I learned from this little creature！Patience and hope will16 the beautiful things in life. Yet I had never17how much patience I really do have and how much I do rely on hope to 18 the questions in my heart.

So I 19hoping and waiting, waiting and hoping. I will try to use this “little lesson” with so many other things in my life. I guess patience is a 20 after all.

    Many years ago, I was working in an office in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had large 1 that look out over a busy street. I was standing by one of those windows one day when a woman in a 2 car looked up and made eye contact. Naturally I 3. As she turned and tried to identify me, a quiet laugh4my lips. My co-workers began taking an interest, and stood back watching the 5 I received, and laughing happily. Then the stress of work was 6 away.

    Christmas approached, and job 7 were announced. Several of my co-workers were losing their jobs, and everyone was 8. While I was working a night shift, a red jacket , a box of foam packing and strips of tape in the corner caught my 9. They could be Santa's jacket and beard! Then I folded a red file into a hat and tied the 10 to it. With the red jacket , a Santa's Costume appeared.

    The next day I walked 11down into the office in the costume. My co-workers 12around me and laughed for the first time in weeks. Suddenly, my boss came to me, 13, shook his head and then left. I feared14. Then the phone rang.

    With a bead of sweat 15 my forehead, I entered the boss' office . 16, he laughed: "Thanks, Mike! It's been hard to enjoy the Christmas season. Thanks for the laugh. I 17it."

    That evening, I stood 18 by the window and waved at my fans, with my heart 19 with joy. For a few minutes of that day, we'd been able to forget our 20.

    A Tennessee woman celebrated her birthday with a bittersweet gift from beyond the grave ——flowers from her father, who died five years ago.

    Michael William Sellers pre-paid for a bouquet of 1to be delivered to his daughter, Bailey, every 2 until she turned 21. And on Friday, Bailey 3 the gift, her last from her dad.

    "My dad4 when I was 16 from cancer and before he died he pre-paid flowers so I could receive them every year on my birthday," then she said. "This is my 21st birthday flowers and the5."

    Bailey said the special gift made birthdays6."Since that day I've hated my birthday 7he always made it so special," Bailey said "I was especially8 my 21st because I knew it would be the last year."

    Bailey said this year's gift and birthday card were especially 9."I broke down," she said. "That letter was very 10and sad all at the same time."

    "This is my last love letter to," her father11. "I do not want you to drop another 12for me, for I am in a 13 place. He also told her to always respect her mother and stay 14to herself." Be happy and live life to the fullest," he wrote. "I will be with forever, just 15and I will be."

    "That was my dad," she said. "He was trying to make my birthday 16."

Social media users17 the post, calling it both "heartwarming," and "heartbreaking."

    Others praised her father, calling him a(an) "18 of what a good man is like," "He would be very 19," Bailey said "he'd be very proud that it20 a lot of people."

Another person's enthusiasm was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.

I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father1me to her with these words: "I would like you to meet the fellow who is2for being the worst boy in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no3 than tomorrow morning."

My stepmother walked over to me, 4my head slightly upward, and looked me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied," You are5This is not the worst boy at all, 6the smartest one who hasn't yet found an outlet(释放的途径) for his enthusiasm."

That statement began a(n)7between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my8as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that.

She changed many things. She9my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat, where my father's career could be more10and my brother and I could be better11.

When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand12and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, I13 it, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her14 and began to write for local newspapers. I was doing the same kind of15that great day I went to interview Andrew Camegie and received the task which became my life's work later. I wasn't the16beneficiary(受益者). My father became the17 man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.

What power18has! When that power is released to support the certainty of one's purpose and is19 strengthened by faith, it becomes an irresistible(不可抗拒的) force which poverty and temporary defeat can never20.

You can communicate that power to anyone who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm.

When I was in second grade, my single greatest fantasy was to fly like a bird. As I grew older, I 1 flying off as part of my childhood imagination, being 2 beyond possibility. But two days after my eighteenth birthday, my childhood fantasy should become a 3.

Once the engines came to 4, I knew there was no 5. In 20 minutes I would be 6 out of this airplane. As I looked out of the window, I could see my brothers videotaping the plane as it 7, and now they were only 8 figures standing next to the runway. Looking across at my jump mate, 9 he had successfully completed over 2,400 jumps, I could see from the look in his eyes that he was still 10. I realized that I was too.

As the door 11, the wind screamed past my ears. Generally, I do not 12 out loud when I am frightened, but as my feet fell from the plane, my mind was experiencing 1, 000 13 per second. After a few seconds, I found myself 14, "Why did I do this?" The only responses that came to my mind were more questions. Did I jump because of the endless lure(吸引) of the sky? Was it to test my 15? Was it to seek a new adventure? 16 through the sky at 165 miles per hour, I did not find my answer.

Finally, I17with a thump (砰然声) as my family ran to greet me. As I 18 the field and drew in my first breath, I knew that having my feet on the ground again would take on a new meaning. Since entering high school, I have felt the need to 19 myself and to constantly push my limits. In this respect, skydiving(特技跳伞) has 20 another door for me to explore and I will continue to leap at the chance to face a challenge.