On a road trip to California's breathtaking North Coast region, my husband Ken and I, my teenage daughter Lahre, and my nine-year-old son Shawn, stopped to have lunch and stretch our legs a bit.

    As we walked toward the 1 entrance, a man with an untidy beard and dirty hair jumped up from a nearby bench and opened the door for us. An old bike 2 with a sleeping bag and the rest of his 3rested against the bench, it was obvious that he was 4. But regardless of his 5, he greeted us as if we were his best friends, “Today's soup and sandwich special's a great deal.”

    Once inside, my teenager whispered to me, “Mom, he 6.” And Shawn asked questions about him, not quite understanding the 7 of a homeless person. Ken and I explained the best we could, telling the kids to look to the person underneath and within 8 the dirt and smell.

    With the windiest part of our trip just 9 us, the kids needed to take car-sick pills so I went back to the car to fetch them. As I 10 the front door, the “doorman” was opening it for an older couple, who rushed past him and didn't even acknowledge his 11. I let the couple12 first and then said a loud and gracious “thank you” to the doorman.

After going back inside, I asked our waitress, who was bringing the kids their dessert, to 13 one soup and sandwich special to our bill. Both the kids looked at me 14 —as we had already eaten but Ken knew exactly what I was doing.

    By this time, we had to get back on the road to stay on schedule. As we rounded the comer of the very full restaurant, the “doorman” was sitting at a table enjoying his 15. When seeing me, he jumped up and 16 his hand for a handshake. It was then that I17 he had tears in his eyes—tears of gratitude.

    18 we can't choose many things in life, we can choose when to show gratitude, and I was doing just that. Hopefully, when someone opens a door for Lahre and Shawn during their 19 through life, they will remember to say “20“ and have a great soup and sandwich special on the menu, too.

    Seven years ago, our daughter, Alle Shea, was born. All of our family were excited with the new arrival. After she was given to me by a nurse from the delivery room, I 1 her cautiously, wondering how 2 life was.

    However, our joy 3 for just several seconds. We noticed that she was crying weakly and refused to 4. We went to have the doctor check on her health. After the 5 , the doctor told us our daughter was 6 with the rare bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta （成骨不全症）. At birth Alle Shea's skull looked like a(n) 7 egg on the x-rays.

    Watching my daughter 8 was the greatest pain. After being terribly tortured （折磨）for a long time, my wife and I 9 take our five-week-old daughter off life support, by far the most 10 decision of our life. The day Alle was leaving us, we were able to take her outside on the hospital deck and hold her in our arms until she 11 .

    We had two 12 that day: we could have let the sadness overtake us, or we could turn it into a 13 Since that day, my wife and I have worked 14 volunteering our time hosting special events, and talking to others about OI. We even 15 hospitals to join us - and this is the battle we are still 16 . Over the seven years, we have 17 thousands of hours. In February of 2015 we18.

    OI Care for You program. Ever since, we have been sending stuffed animals to children with OI. Each present brings them a smile and 19 . Many OI families thank us for doing what we do and giving them another way to show 20 for a family member with OI.

    It was a busy morning, about 8: 30am, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches (线) removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry, as he had a/an 1 at 9: 00am.

    I took his vital signs and had him take a 2, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and 3 since I was not busy with another patient, I would assess his wound.

    On 4 it I saw it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors and got the needed supplies to 5 his stitches and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another 6 appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me he needed to go to the nursing home to eat 7 with his wife.

    I inquired as to her 8. He told me that she had been there for a while because she is a 9 of Alzheimer's disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be 10 if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew 11 he was, and that she had not 12 him for five years now.

    I was 13 and asked him, "Do you still go every morning 14 she doesn't know who you are?" He 15 as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me but I 16 know who she is."

    I had to 17 tears as he left. I had goose bumps on my arm and thought, 'That is the kind of 18 I want in my life."

    True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is a/an 19 of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

    Remember that the 20 deeds that we do in life really matter.

    How did you do it, Dad? How have you managed not to take a drink for almost 20 years? It took me almost 20 years to have the 1 to even ask my father this very personal question. When Dad first 2 drinking, the whole family was on pins and needles every time he got into a 3 that, in the past, would have started him 4 again. For a few years we were 5 to bring it up for fear that the drinking would begin again.

    "I had this little poem that I would recite to myself at least four to five times a day," was Dad's 6 to my 18-year-old unasked question. "The words were a constant 7 to me that things were 8 so hard that I could not deal with them," Dad said. Then he 9 the poem with me. The poem's 10, yet profound words immediately became 11 of my daily routine as well.

    About a month after this 12 with my father, I received a gift in the mail from a friend of mine. It was a book of daily sayings of wisdom with one 13 for each day of the year.

    It has been my 14 that when you get something with days of the year on it, you naturally turn to the page that lists your own 15.

    I 16 opened the book to November 10 to see 17 words of wisdom this book had in store for me. I was 18 when I looked at the page, and then tears of disbelief and appreciation 19 down my face. There, on my birthday, was the exact same poem that had 20 my father for all these years! It is called the Serenity (平静) Prayer.

    God grant me

    the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

    the courage to change the things I can;

    and the wisdom to know the difference.

On that hot August day in 2023, as ash rained down and flames closed in, Jim Rhodes didn't want to be anywhere but Coulterville. "My kid called from Alabama. We first heard ·about the fire from him," Rhodes recalls. "He said, ‘Evacuate（撤离）!'I said, ‘Evacuate? To where?'"

Coulterville is a tiny town located among dry hills where local people raise cattle and other livestock. It has a main street, a park and a museum. It's got a cafe, a grocery shop and a post. And with summer temperatures routinely topping 100 degrees, it has fires—sometimes big fires.

Eventually, this big fire got a name: the Moc Fire, for the tiny town of Moccasin-where it began as a brush fire.

It burnt for 10 days, consuming almost 3,000 acres.

Rhodes woke to find his truck covered in ashand the news was broadcasting evacuation orders. Ranchers（牧场主） across the region were fighting to protect their animals, loading them into the truck or just setting them loose to find safety. Volunteers were readying fairgrounds nearby to shelter animals. Already they were filling up with dogs, cats, chickens, horses, cattle, goats, sheep and rabbits.

As residents and animals were brought out, firefighters poured in. "With them came the biggest bulldozer（挖土机）I've ever seen," says Rhodes. "And they were sent to cut the firebreak that could save the town. We knew that if it made the cut, we'd all have to get out of here."

The situation was clear. The danger was growing. But slowly Rhodes realized that he hadn't come to Coulterville just to leave when the town needed him. He stayed, joining the handful of residents who gathered around the main street where fire officials posted updates. He knew he could help somebody, somehow.

Around midmorning, a farmer he'd never met came by asking for help with animal evacuation. Rhodes's phone was still ringing, but he knew what to do. "I hung up my phone, got in the truck and headed down to his farm," he says.

I was a lecturer for 10 years when I met my greatest teacher. It wasn't in a 1 but in a hospital. She was my daughter Kelsey.

She was born with congenital cerebral palsy（先天性脑瘫). At four, she still 2 to tie her shoes. It was 3 for her. After three years of 4 , Kelsey made it. Her accomplishment taught me that pace wasn't going to be crucial—achieving goals according to her own 5matters most.

At age 5, she won a battle against cancer. Kelsey 6 through creative play. In the hospital, the game was always "restaurant" with her playing waitress and the rest of us 7 as customers. She enjoyed herself in the 8 for several hours 9 , as if we weren't in the hospital at all. At home, the play turned to "hospital." Her game included medical terms even we adults didn't understand. We'd just play along as she 10 herself in her roles.

At six, she wished to take ballet lessons. I'm embarrassed to admit how much this 11 me. I wasn't just afraid for her body, but for her 12 .

I worried about the 13 she might get from the class. But she wouldn't 14 and the expectation in her eyes 15 all the drawbacks, so we enrolled her in a ballet school.

Kelsey danced with 16 ! Did she fall? Of course. Was she awkward? Very. But she was completely 17 by her situation. The sheer joy of dancing was enough. After four years, she 18 to horse riding. This time, I signed her up without 19 .

Now a seventh grader, Kelsey continues to embrace her life and teach us invaluable 20 about persistence and the power we could never have otherwise.

Kelsey, I'll never have a greater teacher!