I volunteer some of my time in order to give back just a little of what I am so blessed to have. This month. I had an unbelievable opportunity to 1 my dream, and step out of my 2 surroundings. I volunteered to go to Guatemale (危地马拉) with an eyeglass.

    Our 3 went to a small town in Guatemala. San Augustin. We 4 our tables and packages of pre-made 5in the dirt courtyard of a clinic, get up the Snellen chart on a wall, and began 6 people. Young and old, they came from many of the 7 town. Most had never had an eye exam before.

    They waited for hours8 in the sun, never complaining. If we could help them out with a 9 pair of glasses they would feel deeply 10. Some only left with eye drops or sunglasses, and 11 these people were grateful.

    We saw over a hundred 12 a day and a good part of those we saw got glasses. We 13over and over from people who knew their eyes 14help that they had not gone to a doctor because it was too 15, or had not got the glasses they needed for the same reason. We saw children who were16 out of school because they could not see the17, and we met women who could not see to thread needles, drivers with 18 seeing road signs.

      We are not doctors, and there were several people we could not help. But for those we could, we watched with pleasure as their lives19. What a gift sight is and what a difference it 20to see clearly.

    Kindness is the golden chain by which society is linked together. However .I was not thinking about the golden chain when l had to help people who1their way, and parked in front of my house.

    I was growing tired of helping so many people. Almost every2I was awaken during a sound night's sleep and bad to3 someone out, Many tints l was4by some penniless motorists who did not even hank me for the help that they received and some even complained that I could have done5.

    One day, a young man with a week old beard climbed out of a6automobile. He had no money and no food. He asked if I could give him some 7offering him gasoline and a meal. I told him that if he wanted to work for me, he could cut the grass, but 8the work wasn't necessary.

    Though sweaty and hungry, he worked hard. After working all day, he sat 9to cool himself. I thanked him for his work and gave him the money he10. I then offered him some11money for a task particularly well done, but he 12, shaking his head.

    I never saw him again. He probably thinks I helped him out that day, but that is not13it was. I didn't help him. He helped me to 14people again to repay their trust in me. He helped me to once again want to do something for those who are 15I wish I could thank him for 16some of my belief in the basic 17 of others and for giving me back a little of the18 I had lost. Because of him, I once again felt part of a golden chain of kindness that 19us to others. I may have fed his body that day, but he fed my 20.

    I was once a dropout. I know how powerfully a 1 can influence the life of a person who does not 2 herself. I quit school at sixteen to work. Years later, I had a(n) 3 and couldn't work for months. I felt depressed. With an unemployable father and a mentally ill mother to support, I couldn't 4 to give up.

    Searching the ads, I found a notice that our local community college offered free work 5. One requirement was a high-school diploma or GED certificate. Years ago, I got my GED certificate, but with 6 scores. I felt certain that I had little to 7 other than a willingness to 8. After my physical injury healed, I went to meet Ruby Martin, the advisor who would 9 me.

    I sat 10 waiting while Mrs. Martin looked over my score sheet. I was 11 to hear her blame me for wasting her valuable time. She looked at me for a long moment 12 she spoke.

    "Why did you apply for this 13?" she asked. "Why aren't you applying to college?"

    With my face burning with 14, I could only whispered, "Because I am 15."

    "Didn't anyone ever explain these 16 to you?" she asked. I just shook my head. For the next hour, she explained how the GED scores are based on, and that my 17 were very high indeed. She convinced me that I was not only not stupid, but that I would 18 an excellent candidate for the training program.

    I regained my 19. Later, I got a bachelor's degree and became a teacher just like her. To teach is to touch a life. It was Ruby Martin who touched my life 20.

    From the time each of my children started school, I packed their lunches. And in each lunch, I1a note. Often written on a napkin (餐巾), it might be a thank-you for2moment, a reminder of something we were happily expecting, or a bit of3for the coming test or sporting event.

    In early grade school they4their notes. But as children grow older they become self-conscious (有自我意识) and5he reached high school, my older son, Marc, informed me he no longer6my daily notes. Telling him that he no longer needed to7them but I still needed to write them. I8until the day he graduated.

    Six years after high school graduation, Marc called and asked if he could move9for a couple of months. He had spent those years well, graduating from college,10two interships (实习) in Washington, D.C., and11, becoming a technical assistant in Sacramento.12short vacation visits, however, he had lived away from home. With his younger sister leaving for college, I was13happy to have Marc back. Since I was14making lunch for his younger brother, I15one for Marc, too. Imagine my16when I got a call from my 24-year-old son,17his lunch.

    "Did I do something18? Don't you love me19, Mom?" were just a few of the questions he threw at me as I20asked him what was wrong.

    "My note, mom," he answered. "Where's my note?"

    I had ever been invited to see a performance. That day I met a brave and talented boy I would never1. The young musician, Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes, was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair and began to play the2. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful3. He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more4. I was seeing something5in his face. It was something that I6can't explain. And his smile was magic!

    He was born with no7and a pair of paralyzed（瘫痪的）legs. As a child, he was fitted with man-made eyes and8in a wheelchair. Today, Patrick is a junior. His father9classes with him and he's made nearly all As.

    But more than his10musical talent, it was Patrick's "attitude of gratitude" that11my soul. On stage, between songs, he talked to the12about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, "God made me blind and unable to13. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability, the musical14I have and the great opportunity to meet new people."

    I15a quote, "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning to16in the rain!"

    I thought that's it! We all17adversity(不幸）in our life. However, it's not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and18in our lives. During19times, do we spend too much time we feeling sorry for ourselves, or can we, with gratitude,20how to dance in the rain?