Forever friendship

    Twenty-one years ago，my husband gave me Sam，an eight-week-old dog，to help me ease(减轻；缓解) the loss of our daughter. Later my husband and I moved from New York to New Jersey where our neighbor，whose cat had 1had kittens，asked us if we would like one. We were afraid that Sam would not be2 ， but we made up our3to take a kitten.

    We picked a little，gray，playful cat. She 4around running after imaginary mice and squirrels and jumped from table to chair very 5 ， so we named her Lightning(闪电)．

    At6 ， Sam and Lightning were not close to each other. But slowly，as the days went on，Lightning started 7Sam. They slept together，ate together and played together. When I took 8one out of the house，the other was always 9by the door when we returned. That was the10they lived for years.

    Then，without any11 ， Sam suddenly died of a weak heart. This time，there was no Sam for Lightning to greet and no way to 12why she would never see her friend again.

    In the13that followed，Lightning seemed heartbroken. She could not14me in words that she was 15 ， but I could see the pain and 16in her eyes whenever anyone opened the front door. The weeks17by，and the cat's sorrow seemed to be lifting(消失). One day as I walked into our living room，I18 to have a look at the floor next to our sofa 19we had a sculptured replica(雕塑复制品)of Sam that we had bought a few years before. Lying next to the statue(雕塑)，one arm wrapped around the statue's neck，was Lightning，sleeping with her best20.

    I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! If not, no 1 to catch up, just join right now. Everyone says one of the most effective ways to deal with 2 emotions is to 3. If things are sad, try to find a 4 to laugh or joke. Easier said than done.

    However, I had a chance to make a joke of it last night. My husband 5 the job of dealing with my 6 orthodontic（矫牙）treatment. He7 he'd make the 8 and take her to see the doctor.

    On 9 flight to Kansas city for the holidays, my daughter lost her dental braces（牙套）. We looked everywhere on the plane but it was 10. We returned home 11 and my husband didn't call to make an appointment. Days went12. I 13 him periodically, but nothing happened.

Whenever I thought about this delay（延误）, I became extremely annoyed. Last night, I was 14 to turn on my anger at full volume（音量）. "This really matters. She is growing now. She'll only have to suffer, you 15 you'd do it," But then I thought about, "make a joke of it." So I went over and said 16, "honey, if you don't call the orthodontist's tomorrow, I'm going to be very angry. I'm not threatening, just giving you fair warning." And today he made the appointment. I'm not sure if making a joke of it was more effective（有效的）than getting angry, but I don't think it was less effective.

I used the same 17 on myself last weekend. Faced with a lot of dull tasks to do, I repeated to myself 18, "Oh well, this is the weekend of the dreaded（恐怖）tasks." And just making that little joke made it easier to handle those tasks.

Maybe, my jokes weren't funny at all. But just the attempt to take a 19 attitude made a huge 20. It's easy to say "make a joke of it", but it's hard to do when you're feeling angry or upset. Have you found a way to get yourself to make a joke?

    When I was shopping a few months ago , I saw a man trying to get people to donate(捐赠)to a very well-known charity(慈善团体)for children. I 1 to him that I can't donate money any more 2 my bank account(账户)having some problems last year. It was a 3 time and took months to get back our money. 4, I noticed the man was hungry and cold, so I offered him a(n) 5 in the nearby restaurant.

    Last week I 6 home on a really hot day. My husband Stewart was at the table with a person from a Charity having a 7. We talked for a while and then I said, "I 8 you!" and he looked at me in surprise and said, "Oh, you're the lovely lady that 9 me a big lunch and drinks when I was at 10 trying to get people to donate." We both laughed and we had a little 11.

    He told me that he had let the organizers know about this lovely woman 12 him out on a cold day. He said 13was so unexpected. I was so 14 to see him again, sitting in my home. My act had really 15 him for the kindness of it and I loved the fact that Steward had 16 him in out of the heat for a cold drink.

    In our daily life, maybe we 17 know how we 18people when we do good things. But in fact, 19we do does affect others, for it is a lovely 20. Kindness is so catching (感染力的).

    Mr. West wanted to buy his wife a Christmas present, but he was always very 1, so he was never able to find time to go to the shops. At last, when it was the week 2Christmas, and the shops were very crowded, he decided that he could not 3 any longer. He worked in an office, and 4 had lunch in a restaurant, but one day he bought some sandwiches, ate them 5 and went out to a big shop near his 6during his lunch hour.

    The shop was full of women, who were also buying 7during their lunch hour. Mr. West stood 8at the edge of a crowd of 9 who were pushing forward to try to get to the people who were 10necklaces and earrings. He tried to move forwards slowly, taking his turn with the others, but more and more women were 11into the shop the whole time and pushing selfishly 12him. After half an hour, he was just as 13 from the people who were selling the necklaces as he had been when he came in, and his lunch hour was coming to 14, so he decided to change his 15of doing things: he put his head down, gave a sudden loud shout and started to 16 his way towards the 17 of the crowd as hard as he could. The women around him became very 18 when they saw what he was doing,  and began to scold(责备)him. "Why can't you behave like a 19?" they shouted.

    "Ladies," he answered them, "I have been behaving like a gentleman for the past half hour, and it has got me 20, so now I am starting to behave like a lady!"

    It was early one hot morning in 2015 when, accompanied by my mother, I was1wheeled to the taxi stand. Three weeks earlier, I had2my left ankle at home. Now, I was on my way to being3 for an operation at the Philippine General Hospital.

    I was feeling 4as I'd never had surgery before and the thought of it5me. After waiting for6for more than 90 minutes, we were still standing there. It usually only takes a few minutes, but on this particular Sunday they would7 us either already filled with passengers or8to take us. Perhaps they weren't 9to carry my 10. My mother was starting to get frustrated as we were fast running out of time; our11was scheduled for 10:45am. Then a black SUV12 and stopped in front of us. The driver, taking a look at us, said, "You two look like you could use a13!" He told us he'd seen us earlier as he was taking his son to a14school activity. He was now returning home and saw that we were still there.

    With no questions asked, this good Samaritan welcomed us aboard and got us to the hospital. We arrived at 10:30 – just in time. He refused any15, saying people should help one another. He left with a smile.

    I was finally16. A long recovery process and physical therapy followed and now I am able to17again.

    To this day we have not18again this friendly driver who went out of his way, but his generosity towards us has19in our minds and taught me to keep watch for and help others 20.

Roberta appeared on the stage. She took a deep breath and began to 1. Now she was Portia, a strong­willed 2 in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.  The theater was filled with people. She was speaking with a power she had never before experienced, the words flowing 3 from her.

4, Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition (选拔试演). She 5 being in front of other people. She was very 6 at school. She had never thought she was good enough at anything to 7 much attention. She stayed mostly to herself, making 8 friends. She had excellent grades, 9 she always thought that something was missing.

Two weeks before the audition, Robertsa's mother had heard about it and 10 her to join in.

"I can't think of anyone else better suited to 11 the part. Remember all the plays you used to act out for us?"

Her mother wouldn't let the 12 drop. "You're just a little scared. Everyone gets scared. You know you 13 do it. The trick is to look past the 14 to find the love of what you're doing. "

So Roberta had made an appointment with the head of the Drama Club. She had read the play and found herself excited by the 15 of speaking such rich words. In secret she practiced Portia's part, 16 the lines by repeating them over and over. It wasn't hard; she 17 every minute of it. Every time she spoke the words, she had a new 18 of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels.

On the day of the audition, she 19 two of Portia's famous speeches for the auditors. When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the 20 was hers.