My parents fixed in me the ideas of family, faith and patriotism(爱国主义) when I was young1we struggled to make ends meet, they2 to me and my four brothers and sisters how 3we were to live in a great country with 4 opportunities.

    I got my first real 5 when I was ten. My dad injured his back working in a factory and had to be6as a hairstylist. The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a(n)7on his rent for cleaning the parking lot(停车场) three nights a week, which meant a little 8that looked like a lawn mower(割草机). Mom and I emptied garbage cans and 9 waste by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I'd 10in the car on the way home because of tiredness.

    I did this for two years, but the11I learned have lasted a lifetime. I 12discipline and a strong work ethic(道德准则), and learned at a(n)13age the importance of balancing life's 14interests­in my case, school, homework and a job. This really15during my senior year of high school, when I worked 40 hours a week at a fast­food restaurant while taking college­pre 16.

    The hard work 17I attended the U.S Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in 18and business from Harvard.19 I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California State Assembly(议会). In these jobs and in everything else I've done. I have never forgotten those20in the parking lot.

    For me personally, I could write for days about many different situations where adversity (逆境)1my life. Now let me tell you one experience where I almost let adversity2.

    We had a glass studio, which was located 50 feet from our home. A couple of years ago we experienced an 3winter; we had a lot of snow and ice. The4of the ice and snow5the roof on our studio, taking with it one of our sources of income.6it did fall down, we got on the roof and tried to 7the snow and ice, but when you have 5 feet of ice and temperatures of minus 20 Celsius, it was pretty8to do.

    We had a partner come in to help us try to9the roof by supporting. In the end, there was 10that could be done. The roof came down. We had moved a lot of our goods and tools from the studio11 we lost a lot also: glass, kilns, work benches, to name only a few of the items. It was a 12experience.

    Here we were in the middle of winter with our studio collapsed. We couldn't work as we had almost 13all the material in a building we were not using. We could have done one of two things: we could simply say that we can no longer 14 our glass business. Let me tell you that this was certainly a thought that15our mind. Or we could find a way to get our studio back up and running.

    We picked the16option. We had a large barn that we were not using. So we renovated (翻新) the barn17our working area and today we have a nicer studio than we 18 had. If the adversity we were19had not happened, we probably would20be working in the old studio—a studio that was less efficient.

    Medical bills were piling, kids needed glasses, cars needed repairs and the dog needed surgery. On top of that, Christmas was almost 1 us so presents needed to be purchased.

    But all of that was 2 when my husband, Brian, was waiting in our local tire shop to have his six truck tires 3 on a snowy night, He overheard the tire salesman 4 a young mom with 3 children that she was in urgent 5 of all new tires, as each one was completely 6 down.7, the young mom said she didn't have the money to replace more than one tire on her car.

    On hearing that, Brian 8 to pay for a tire to be installed,9 of the one tire this woman was able to purchase. Brian knew that even though it was just a start, the young mom would be much 10 driving on the 11 roads with a balanced set of two new tires than they would with just one new tire.

    The young mom was so surprised that she12 choked up. Eyes filled with tears, she thanked Brian and pulled away.

    My husband is a naturally modest13 man who feels rewarded in giving rather than14 in life. So imagine his unexpected15, when he later discovered the salesman had 16 the entire amount spent on the woman's one17 tire to his bill!18 the seven tires my husband bought, the salesman only 19 him for six.

    The simple act of one man making the decision to share what he had, instead of worrying about what he would 20, made a difference that night.

    When I was young, my mother could not even 1 a 50-cent chocolate bar for me. However, instead of focusing on poorness, my mother selflessly 2 me to fight for success so that I could lead a 3 life. She worked long hours every night to support the family. 4, she would find time to 5 with my sister, Emily, and me. Although I did not have two parents, I was loved and 6 just as much.

    Not all of life's milestones were easy. Some even left a 7 taste when my mother married a man in Maryland. The first few months were 8: baseball games dinners together and movies. It felt like we were the 9 All-American family. Then things 10. Screaming matches between my stepfather and my mother ruined dinners, and he 11 movie tickets for wine.

    We spent five years living in a family setting that had turned into a 12 zone. To our great relief, they finally 13 and we settled in Texas, where Mom is still working hard for a better life. Now, as I write this article with some dark 14 at hand, I realize my family and I are at the 15 point of our lives. I have succeeded both in my 16 and personality. I have been 17 my hunger for knowledge and I am to 18 from high school, not making a bitter product of my 19, for I know that hard times in life are also learning experiences. 20, like candy, can be the sweetest treat of all.

    When I was a boy we had several gardens around our old house. The largest one of all was used just for 1 potatoes. I can still remember those potato 2 days. The whole 3 helped.

    4 my Dad had tilled(耕地)the soil，my Mom，brothers，and I went to work. It was my job to 5 the little seed potatoes in the rows while my Mom dropped 6 of fertilizer (肥料)beside them. My brothers then covered them all 7 the freshly turned earth.

    For months afterward I would 8 over at the garden while I played outside and wonder what was going on underneath the ground. When the harvest time came I was 9 at the huge size of the potatoes my Dad pulled out of the soil.

    Those little seedlings had grown into sweet food. They would be 10 meal after meal of baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, and my 11 favorite: potatoes cooked in spaghetti sauce.

They would 12 the entire family well fed throughout the whole year. It 13 was a miracle to be held.

    Thinking back to those special times makes me wonder how many other 14 I have planted in tills life that have grown 15 in the hearts and minds of others.

    How many times has God used some little thing that I said 16 did to grow something beautiful? How many 17 has Heaven used these little seedlings to 18 another's soul with sweet food?

    I hope then you always 19 the garden around you with care. I hope that you plant only goodness, peace, and20 in the lives of everyone you help. I hope that everyday you help miracles to grow.

    One day, when I was a teenager, I was home along doing two of my favourite things: I was eating a huge plate of spaghetti and mealbails and I was 1.

    At the time, my family pet bird - a big white cockatoo named Luke was free from his 2 and flying around inside the house. Luke, which wasn't3 to use real words, was chucking (咯咯地叫) away, 4 me, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I was 5 on reading my detective book. 6 Luke decided to get closer and before I 7 it, he'd landed right on top of my spaghetti and meatbails! I was so surprised - my mind went8. My reaction was the same as yours would be: I shooed (用"嘘"声吓唬)him off my food! This wouldn't have been so bad 9 one thing: Luke had 10 my spaghetti. So when he 11 again, the spaghetti still winded in his12 went flying everywhere. He landed on my shirt. He hit me in the 13. As I pulled noodles out of my hair, Luke 14 spaghetti sauce all the way. He wasn't15, except for his16the sauce in his beautiful white 17 turned him splotchy (油渍斑斑的)orange for several weeks.

    See how funny spaghetti can be? And see how 18 reading can be? So go ahead and enjoy a good book. But if you like to read while you eat, you'd better keep an eye on your food. And if you find a19 novel at the 20 with red, splotchy (油渍斑斑的)spots on two pages near the middle, you'll know that I've read that book, too!