Standing in the driveway, I watched my grown children drive off into the distance. I looked down the road until I could no longer see their 1.

    “They live too far away from me,” I said to myself. “When did they 2 and become parents of small children? 3 that be me?”

    I slipped back inside the house and just walked through the rooms for no reason 4. I was just missing them already and looking for 5 of their having been here. There were pillows on the floor and few stuffed (填充) animals 6 around where the children had been playing.

    I walked into the 7 and there on the back of the sink was a bottle brush that had been left behind. “Ah, even Tessa left something behind,” I 8. Well, I suppose she had help 9 she was just four months old.

    As I walked around the house, I picked up a few more 10 on the floor—Tegan's tooth, a pie pan, and the inside of a turkey fryer.

    Hmmm, things left behind ... I thought to myself. It seems there is one thing left behind on very 11. Memories are always left behind, I reasoned, and what a(n) 12 thing good memories are to us. I thought how each item left behind 13 me of the person it belonged to and the story 14 it.

    Memories happen even if we aren't 15 of it. The stressful and difficult moments often become memories that we 16 later with laughter and joy. The memories of past hurts, bitterness, and anger, 17, should be left behind 18. These are the things that we should never 19 until the next time they come, mail back, or bring with us on 20 next visit.

    As Elizabeth Stone said, “To have a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

    Volunteering abroad comes with a bit of a social stigma(耻辱).  From my 1this couldn't be further from the truth.  Volunteering isn't so expensive that it's only a2 for the well-off. I spent 10 weeks volunteering in Arizona with America Conservation Experience(ACE), helping3America's natural beauty.

    The 4 was arranged through BUNAC, a work and volunteer organization.5it cost me around $1,000 — a sum which I6 mostly by working part-time.

    The self-indulgent(放纵自己的) image is7 to overseas volunteer projects.  However, the work can be8 I spent my time maintaining trails, building fences and carrying out projects in some of the national monuments of America. Summer temperatures in Arizona stay well above 35℃9pleasant if you're carrying 50kg of concrete for 10 hours at a time.  And then there was the wildlife to deal with, which10my strength of character and made my 11of the English household spider disappear.

    12 do most people volunteer for? Probably they want to 13 things to the world.  But in reality, you 14 just as much as the local communities and ecosystems you're helping.

    Spending 10 weeks in America's most beautiful national parks and forests was 15 I gained a far deeper16 of the local environment than the average tourist17 ex-national park rangers(护林者) who knew18 of the area's history and ecosystem.  But best of all, my 10 weeks were spent volunteering with young people from a mix of19 — from Belgians to South Koreans.  When I left Arizona, I returned home having made a lifelong 20with people from around the world.

    A few years ago, I was with a close friend in a grocery store in California. As we walked along the aisle (过道), we became 1of a mother with a small boy going in the opposite direction. The woman don't noticed us because she was so 2 with her child, who 3 to eagerly pull items off the lower shelves. As the mother became more and more annoyed, she started to 4 at her son and progressed to shaking him by the arm.

    At this point my friend spoke up. A wonderful mother of three, she had probably 5 in her life6 any child so harshly(严厉地). I 7 my friend would give this woman a serious8 about the effect of this kind of behavior on the boy. However to my9 my friend said, “What a(n)10little boy. How old is he?” The woman answered, “He's three.” My friend went on to say how11 he seemed and how her own three children12in the grocery store, pulling things off shelves. “He seems so bright,” my friend said. A(n)13smile came to the woman's face. She said, “Yes, he's very smart,14 sometimes he wears me out.” My friend responded, “ They can do that; they're so15.

    As we16 away, I heard the mother speaking more17to the boy about getting home and cooking his dinner. “We'll have your favorite foods,” she told him.

    How 18my friend achieved harmony in the situation! Really, although sometimes it's necessary to 19someone physically from hurting another person, more often it is helpful that we show love and 20to those lost in anger, allowing them to remember their own tenderness(温柔).

    When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my 1. Week by week her list grew: I was very thin; I wasn't a 2student; I talked too much; I was too3 , always feeling superior to（胜过）others, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. 4, I became very angry. I ran to my father with 5in my eyes.

    He6 to me quietly, and then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn't you ever 7what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's8. Go and9a list of everything she said and mark the points that are10. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

    I did11 he told me. To my great12, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't 13 (like being very thin), but a good number I could – and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I went to a fairly 14picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy. He15to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know16than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to17, not just close your ears in 18, feeling hurt when something said about you is true, you'll find it of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your affairs. Don't 19your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

    Daddy's advice has always 20 me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    After a failed marriage, depression, not working for four years, and sending out over 200 resumes in the last five months, today I got a $60,000/year job in my field of1.

    I'd been in the running for this job for one and a half months. They received 140 2, interviewed 20, and it was3to me and one other person.

    But three days ago I got a call from them saying they had 4 to move forward with the other candidate. I 5them for the opportunity. They wished me luck in my 6, and I spent the entire day7.

    Then yesterday my would-be-boss called, and said she and the HR manager who initially 8 me couldn't get me off their 9 because of my enthusiasm, attitude, and the excitement I couldn't 10.

    She told me the president of the company11 hired the other candidate because he was 12 in a particular software program, which I am only slightly familiar with. The president is old school, so he went with the13 bet.

    The woman told me she went to bat for me with the 14 these last couple of days 15she believed I was the one the company16.

    She also told me I was the only person out of 20 interviews who 17 them afterwards and said thank you for the 18 of meeting with me. The ONLY person.

    I've had some very hard truths to face and had to19 who I am. It's been a(n)20few years, but those little sunshine rays are finally touching me.

    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.