Every year on my birthday since I was 11, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card ever came with it. Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all. After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower, in soft pink paper.

I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments werespent daydreaming(幻想 )about the sender. My mother encouraged these daydreams. She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone. Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met.

    A month before my high school graduation(毕业), my father died. I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance, and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. My mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss (过) any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia: lovely, strong and perfect.

    My mother died ten years after I was married. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

    It was a cold night. The taxi driver didn't take even one passenger all day. When he went by the railway station, he saw a young man coming out with two bags in his hands. So he drove to him and asked, “where are you going ,sir?

    “To the Red Hotel,” the young man answered. When the taxi driver heard this, he didn't feel happy any more. The young man would give him only three dollars because the hotel was near the railway station. But suddenly, he had an idea. He took the young man through many streets of the big city.

    After a long time, they arrived at the hotel. “Here we are! You should pay me fifteen dollars, please.” the taxi driver said to the young man. “What? Fifteen dollars! Do you think I'm a fool? Only last week, I took a taxi from the railway station to this hotel and I only gave the driver thirteen dollars. I know how much I have to pay for the trip.”

    Once upon a time, there lived a very rich and wealthy man in a big town. He led a luxurious life. He always showed off his wealth to his friends and relatives.

    His son was studying in a distant city and he returned home for vacation. The rich man wanted to show off to his son how rich he was. But his son didn't like any luxurious lifestyle. However, the rich man wanted to make his son realize that his lifestyle was extremely rich and that poor people suffered a lot. He planned a day's visit to the entire town to show him the life of the poor people.

    The father and the son took a chariot and visited the entire town. They returned home after two days. The father was happy that his son was very quiet after seeing the poor people honoring（尊敬） the rich man and after witnessing the sufferings of the poor.

    The rich man asked his son, "Dear boy, how was the trip? Have you enjoyed it?"

    "Yes my dad, it was a great trip with you," the son replied.

    "So, what did you learn from the trip?" the father asked.

    The son was silent.

    "Finally you have realized how the poor suffer and how they actually live," said the father.

    "No father," replied the son. He added, "We have only two dogs, they have 10 dogs. We have a big pool in our garden, but they have a large bay（港湾） without any end! We have luxurious and expensive lights from various countries, but they have countless stars lighting their nights. We have a house on a small piece of land, but they have abundant fields that go beyond the horizon（视野）. We are protected by huge and strong walls around our property（财产）, but they bond with（与……连着） each other and surround themselves with their fellow beings. We have to buy food from them, but they are so rich that they can grow their own food."

    The rich father was stunned and speechless, on hearing his son's words.

    Finally the son added, "Dad, thank you so much for showing me who is rich and who is poor. Thank you for letting me understand how poor we really are!"

    Have you ever watched old movies? If so, maybe you have known Carole Lombard (卡罗尔·隆巴德). She was a famous actress in the 1930s. She died when she was only 34. In her short life, she made 70 movies.

    In 1921, when she was only thirteen years old, a movie director saw her in the street. He decided to put her in a movie. The movie was one of the last silent movies. She acted well enough to win the hearts of many people. At the age of 16, she left school to act. In 1926, an accident happened to her. The accident left scars on her face, but she didn't give up. She continued to act.

    Later, she married Clark Gable that was an actor. He was the great love in her life. They lived happily together.