Last weekend, I was blessed with an opportunity to serve as a volunteer in Maryland. I don't have a car and the closest Amtrak station is about 30 minutes away from the actual site so I wasn't sure1I would get there. I started thinking that maybe it wouldn't be2and after a really long week, I thought that maybe I shouldn't3at all. But I went ahead and posted a request for a4on the ride-share board.

    A few days later, an individual I had never met5that he would be able to pick me up and6me off at the station. He was also planning on serving but said he would wait7my train arrived before driving out there. How kind8this person whom I've never even met, I thought to myself. My heart9, and the stress I had been feeling from my week10away.

    When my new friend drove me to the train station, he11that it was in a deserted kind of area. There was no one12around. It was cold outside, and I still had 30 minutes to wait. So he13his car and said, “We will wait for the train to come together.”

    I couldn't believe his compassion and14. I knew that he had to be at work the next day15me, and that his wife and son were waiting for his return. But he just waited there with me so16, generously serving with his time.

    With five minutes17before the train arrived, he shared with me stories from his childhood. As a young boy, he18sit near the edge of the train tracks, excitedly waiting for the trains to rush by with all their force. That night, before returning home to his family, he waited with me as my train19. It didn't rush by at full force but I left that station20the full force of his compassion and generosity.

    My father once worked for a big company. However, when I was a year old he 1 his job and then our family got into a difficult station. We were 2, so we sold our house. Then we had to live with my grandmother. 3 she didn't like kids at all. She never 4. But l was very happy with my parents. My father was 5 at making things. I was also 6 and had a talent for designing.

    We didn't have money to buy. 7 so we made our own. I put two tyres together to make a horse. I learned a lot about gravity（重力）because I 8 many times.

    By 10, I knew I wanted to become a(n) 9, but they didn't take women in engineering school, so I went to another school and 10 in 1945. Then I was very 11to be accepted by the army's training programme. I learned a lot there. In 1966, I 12 serving the army. I began to work with children with learning problems. I wanted to 13 something that would help them. Luckily, I 14.

    I tried to retire five times but it 15 worked. In 1997, I went back to school to learn drawing, which was 16 for my inventions. On a TV programin2015, 1 17 David Kelley the founder of the design firm IDEO. When I realized he18 people from different backgrounds, I thought, “I have special life experiences and designing skills. I could be of 19 to his firm.”

I typed a letter to Kelley and quickly, I got a 20that I was accepted. I was 85.

    As my husband, Doug, stood on the busy New York city street trying to stop a taxi, I tried to protect my daughter from the cold December wind and rain. I put my head down to kiss my daughter on her 1 where veins crept up (静脉突出) the side of her tiny face.

    Frustrated and wet, my husband gave up his attempt to flag down a taxi. I knew the feeling. Just after her first birthday, we were told our daughter Katie has a 2 brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept 3. We knew Katie was running out of 4. It had taken months before we finally had a name for the 5, but we were told only a few specialists in the world were qualified to knew how to 6 the precious operations. Now, as we finally found a brilliant (杰出的) doctor to 7 our girl, we were 8 in a strange city in the cold rain.

    Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, “Pardon me? May I offer you a(n) 9?” Before we could say anything, she continued, “It's really no 10 for me. Just get in.” It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent, which 11 me up like hot soup.

    We simply said, “Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital, please,” as we 12 on her car for the ride.

    “Are you going 13 the baby?” she asked us.

    I nodded my head, holding back my 14.

    At the hospital, we 15 her over and over again for the ride. As the woman hugged me, I 16 her face was wet with tears in worry. She promised to 17 for us before she left.

    After three more visits to New York and two more 18 surgeries (手术), Katie is cured. But the 19 of the Irish Angel still rang as a constant reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our 20 days.

    One winter, when I was eight, my father and I took a ride to Aunt Sally's house. Halfway back home, the car 1 to shake and slow down. Dad 2 that the car had a flat tire. To make   3 worse, we were stuck in the middle of a snowstorm. I could hear the 4 in my dad's voice as he said, "we could only use a Christmas miracle right now.” I remember how much I 5 that old red car, mainly because the radio didn't work. Actually, 6 really worked in that car, but 7, Dad got his miracle- the heater began to operate and we were very 8 that we wouldn't freeze to death. We 9 there for someone to come along and help us out.

    The cold wind started blowing in 10 the little space in the door and the window. It whistled and moaned and 11 me very much. From the wind, I could 12 the pine tree in the air, tied to the roof of the car. Dad and I both began searching for some 13 to clog(堵塞) that thin space to14the cold out. As I 15 my jacket pocket, I realized there was a piece of folded paper in it. I pulled it out, 16 to realize that it was the words of the carol(颂歌), Hallelujah. I had a sudden 17 to sing, so I began to sing it. Dad also 18 me now and then. By the time I sang Hallelujah after the second verse, the winds had 19. As we sang, " and every breath we drew was Hallelujah", we heard a 20 honk (喇叭声) coming from behind us. It was my uncle Mitch coming our way with help.

    I was studying chemistry at college because my family thought it was the key to success. One day, my professor took me aside and asked a very simple question, "Why are you in my class when it's obvious that you have little or no 1 in chemistry?"

    I came up with an explanation by 2 pressure from my dad, but he knew it was just a /an  3 excuse. He gave me the following advice.

    "Success can only be measured by oneself, and each of us is 4. Your success will not be the same as mine, as your neighbor's or your parents'. There is no secret formula(公式), no examination you have to 5, and no guarantee, but there is a secret ingredient­6. To be successful in life in the broadest sense, you must pursue your passion. 7 it is fixing cars or exploring the world, you must be passionate about your 8 and set a path to achieve it. Only then will you find true 9."

    Since I was just nineteen years old, that was pretty profound advice to 10, but I knew instinctively (本能地) that he was 11. I made a conscious self-examination of my short life to 12 where my passion was hiding. It was so 13 that even my kid sister could have told me my true passion was music. It was in my genes. I could play the piano by ear, but had 14 considered music as a hobby.

    Could I be a successful musician? Or a songwriter? Or a music critic? There was only one way to find out, so I took my professor's 15 and switched to the university's music school. I studied harmony and composition, learned how to play a clarinet(单簧管) and 16 the symphony orchestra. I felt as though I was on top of the world, and that 17 has never left me.

    I'm now fifty-four years old, and a very happy and 18 man. As I look at the walls of my small office, I still get a thrill at seeing the records I 19, the photos of the famous musicians I was lucky enough to play with, and the praises from many of the finest instrumentalists in the world who I am honored to call my friends.

    Life was a long journey, and not a/an 20 one, but I followed my passion and succeeded.