My senior year of high school was very busy. If I wasn't studying or worrying about1, I was taking part in many activities after class or attempting to make my plans for2.

    As the senior year began to slow down, I got a3job working at a local coffee shop. I had expected that the job would be 4, but there are5 when I was angry at the human race as a whole, simply because I couldn't seem to 6anyone. There was always too much sugar, too little ice, or not enough milk. However, I7 working at this coffee shop.

    One day, one of my 8 customers came in, looking depressed and defeated. I asked what the 9 was and if I could help, but the customer wouldn't say any details. He just said that he felt like lying on the bed, 10 the sheets up over his head, and staying there for a few years. I knew exactly11 he felt. Before he left, I handed him a bag with his coffee. He looked at me 12 because he hadn't ordered anything but the coffee. He opened the bag and saw that I had given him his favorite cookies. “It's on me.” I told him.

    The next day that customer came again. 13ordering anything, he 14 me a pink rose and a thank-you note saying that not too many people took the time to care about15 and that he was 16 there were still people like me in the world.

    As time went on, I came across many 17customers. But anytime I felt 18, I thought of that little 19. Then I would smile, hold my head up high, clear my20 and ask politely, “How can I help you?”

    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 her tiny face.

    1and wet, my husband gave up his attempt to flag down a taxi. I knew the2. Just after her first birthday, we were told our daughter Katie has a3 brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept4. We knew Katie was running out of 5It had taken months before we finally had a name for the 6 but we were told only a few of specialists in the world knew how to7 it. Now, as we finally found a brilliant doctor to8 our girl, we were in a strange 9in the cold rain.

    Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, “Pardon me? May I offer you a(n)10?” Before we could say anything, she continued, “It's really no11 for me. Just get in.”It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent, which 12 me up like hot soup. We simply said, “Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital,  please,” as we got in 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 15her a dozen times for the ride. As the woman hugged me, I16her face was wet with tears. She promised to17 for us before she left.

    After three more visits to New York and two more 18 operations, Erica is cured. But the19 of the Irish Angel still rang as a constant reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our20 days.

    In December 2016, Jordan Kahana was driving along a highway in Arizona when he 1 two small dogs on the side of the road. The puppies were eight weeks old. Kahana was on his 2 to Colorado to celebrate the beginning of the New Year with friends, but he stopped and rushed the 3 abandoned（被抛弃的）dogs to the animal hospital. After that, Kahana decided to 4 them.

    Kahana 5 his job as a digital director in 2017 to travel more. 6 he rescued the pups he was planning on 7 full time. He had bought a one-way ticket to Bali in November, to leave that upcoming March. After rescuing the pups, however, his plans took a bit of a 8. But still, the 9 was to travel. So 10 flying for international adventures, he decided road trips would be their thing!

    11 then, the 30-year-old man has traveled about 32,000 miles with the two 12pups, who he named Sedona and Zeus. So far, the three have been to 35 states together and hiked through 13 national parks. They've even visited Canada. Kahana posts his travels on his 14 Instagram account viewed by hundreds of thousands.

    When asked how he 15 Sedona's and Zeus' names, Kahana said that he first found the dogs when he was 16 from Sedona, Arizona to Page, Arizona.He thought Sedona was a 17 name for the female puppy and Zeus, which sounds a good name for a 18 dog, was taken from Greek Mythology.

    “I was 19 forced to become a morning person,” Kahana said. “The pups, without 20, wake me up around 6:30 in the morning to go out for a walk.”

    My journal book is new and in style and there are inspirational words on its cover. Hers is old and leather-bound. As different as the 1 are, the two journals contain many of the same thoughts, quotes, and personal stories about our very different 2.

    We found our connection 3. One summer holiday, I visited my grandmother. 4 I would stay only for a few days, I couldn't part with my journal. I 5 my habit of putting it under my pillow. My grandmother 6 it as she made my bed. I felt 7 that she had found my collection of literary treasures at first. Instead of 8 me, my grandmother brought me to her bedroom and brought out her own 9.

    That night, we 10 a few articles, mine from the past few years and 11 from the past few decades. We laughed at funny stories, 12 at heartbreaks with tears on our faces, and were surprised to find we are so 13.

    I was excited to find a friend who also 14 writing and quote collecting. We were astonished when we saw that we both had 15 the same quote about the truth of experience.

    The connection my grandmother and I share goes 16 literature. Although my grandmother is a Ph.D. who has written some books on education, she has never 17 her study journey. She always reminds me that she will continue to be a 18 for the rest of her life. I 19 her for so many things, but perhaps it is her way on 20 that I find most inspiring.

    "The biggest obstacles (阻碍) in our lives are the barriers our mind creates..." The quote I saw in an old friend's house when I was about eleven has got me through the 1 parts of my life, which has actually been based on it. When I 2 for the basketball team, not 3 it became what I was worried about most. I went to the tryouts but simply sat on the sidelines and 4. I missed out on making the team, not for lack of 5, but because of the rather too big barriers I bore in my head preventing me getting around and then 6 the ball.

    The year continued, and at that age I hadn't overcome the fears 7 in my mind. Football season came and yet again I had to try out for the team, 8 to display myself to the full. Once again the barrier in my head kept me from doing something I loved.

    From that moment on I knew that God wouldn't make barriers if somebody could 9 them. I started training, mentally, 10, and emotionally.

    I went to a small 11 in the county where the teachers didn't care whether you succeeded. I went to practice daily and competed as if it was my 12 day outing on a helmet. Later that week I made the football team. But it was simply 13. In my eyes this wasn't good enough, and I could do much better. In the middle of the season, the coaches said I was 14 to play with the big boys, and before I knew it I was starting as a(n) 15.

    I'd come a long way from the little boy that was scared from his own 16 I had 17 in whatever I did. I tried out for wrestling and made the team, the AAU basketball team and made that 18. I then realized I was a(n) 19 athlete, and that the obstacle course started to become smaller. I chose to 20 myself and let nothing get in the way.

    After all of these years, I still remember my first moment of kindness. It was the first day of kindergarten. I walked in with my mom and was 1 at all the toys against the walls. I 2 ran over to play. Most of the other kids were doing the same.

    In the corner 3, I saw one girl, sitting by herself. She was small and looked 4. She was the only one in the class shorter than me. Her 5 eyes looked like she had been crying. None of the other children seemed to 6 her there.

    I went back to 7 the toy cars but after a minute, I looked up at her again. She seemed so 8. Something inside started to stir(搅动). After a moment, I 9 two of the toy cars and 10 her. "Do you want to play?" I asked. She smiled and 11 her head yes.

    What made me remember that first unselfish act was a 12 that little girl wrote me after we were both grown. She told me how her illness made the other kids 13 her and how that moment of kindness had 14 her life. She had valued the 15I had offered her and carried it in her 16 even after she moved away. I wrote her back and we continued our friendship through the mail for several years 17 the disease finally took her life.

    Today I still thanked my unselfish little heart for 18 me to be kind to a little girl who needed a friend. I thought of how a moment of kindness can 19 so much to another, and of how 20 act can make the world so much better. May your life be full of giving, caring and helping that bring joy to you while you bring joy to others.