When I spent the summer with my Grandpa in Warwick, he sent me to Miss Bee's store. 1 the counter was Miss Bee. A pair of glasses teetered(摇摇欲坠) on the 2 of her nose, gray hair was 3 on her head.

    “Excuse me. I need to get these.” I said. “So?” She pushed her glasses 4 her nose. “There's no one here except you and me and I'm not your 5. Go get them. If you're lucky you'll finish shopping by sundown.” Sundown was five hours 6. I wasn't sure l would 7 it.

    How could I hope to find anything on the packed, jumbled(乱堆的) shelves around me?

    I visited Miss Bee several times a week. Sometimes she short-charged me. Other times she overcharged. 8 she sold me a/an 9 newspaper instead of one that was current. Going to the store was more like going into battle.

    “That bread is only twenty-nine cents!” I corrected her one afternoon. I had watched the numbers change on the cash register(收款机) closely, and Miss Bee had added 35 cents. She didn't seem 10 that I had caught her 11. She just looked at me and 12 the price.

    All summer I learned the hard way to 13 my list. But she still found ways to 14. me into making mistakes. No sooner had I memorized the items' location on the shelf than Miss Bee 15 the shelves and made me hunt for 16 all over again. The morning I was to 17 to Brooklyn, I stopped in to get a packet of gum.

    “All right,” she said. “What did you learn this summer?” She was mean! I pressed my lips together. To my 18, Miss Bee laughed. “I know what you think of me,” she said. “ but when you get older you'll be glad our paths 19!” Glad I met Miss Bee? The idea was 20.

    Now I grow up and I finally understand I really learned a lot from Miss Bee.

    Many families usually take their children to travel during school breaks. But Julie and Tim Rivenbark planned a(n)1vacation with their two children―a one-year trip around the world. They plan to230 countries in all.

    Right now, the four travellers are about halfway through their 3. Ms. Rivenbark says they are trying to see as much of the4as they can.

    Mr. Rivenbark says the family has5on ostrich (鸵鸟) birds, elephants, and camels. But, he says, one of the most6experiences of the trip has been meeting new people.

    “People have been7friendly and welcoming and love our kids―and it's lovely to see them interacting (互动) with new people and their8to see our kids enjoying themselves in their country.”

    Eleven-year-old Tyler says he has enjoyed9about the people they have met. “I learned in Africa that people have very10lifestyles to those in America.” His sister Kara11that she liked Thai food.

    Ms. Rivenbark says that the trip is12the children a lot more than short visits would have. “I think that the longer we travel, the more13it has on how they see the world. I can see them14more than they can see themselves,” she said.

    It took the family a year to15for the trip. They had to sell their house and cars. Ms. Rivenbark16her job and her husband is using unpaid leave. They carry small bags17lightweight clothing and whatever else they need. Ms. Rivenbark says she18being able to carry everything she needs on her back.

    Tyler and Kara each have iPads so they can communicate with teachers to stay19with their schoolwork. Tyler is also20a 365-day video blog.

    I was appointed to tend to this patient several weeks ago and began to grow closer to her. Communicating with her was1because everything she wanted to say to me had to be written on a notepad. As a nursing graduate, I was able to2her mind by observing even a slight 3 in a patient's facial expression.

    One day, when I was checking the patient, she4me on the shoulder to show me a note, "Do you think I could be let go5the hospital in a month to see my niece get married?" Taking her hand in mine, I told her that I could not6her, because I did not want to leave her a7sense of hope. 8, I made her believe that I would be there with her every step of the way on her journey toward9 Hearing that, the patient gave me a 10and a hug.

    Day by day, 1 built her11by walking around the floor with her. As I did this, I could see before my own eyes that her health was12improving and able to walk more steadily. On her last day in hospital, just before her niece's 13, she wrote me one last note, "I couldn't have done this14you; I love you." After kissing goodbye, I had a strong sense of achievement. I realized that moments like this were

    15I woke up early for16 in the hospital and spent long hours with her. I truly felt, and her17confirmed, that I was an18 part of this woman's recovery. My experience with this patient shows me that this career allows me to touch the19of people in ways that people in other20will never get to experience.

    It wasn't that I was embarrassed because my husband was out of work. It's just that we were 1 people and didn't share our 2 much with others. So when he lost his job, we just acted like nothing had changed and no one seemed to 3 .

    It didn't take long before my friends found out that my husband 4 a lot more. When asked about it, I told my good friend and neighbour Tammy the 5 and I said we were still looking. She then told me that her husband had also been hunting for 6 all over town because his company was closing down. I was 7 .We constantly did things together, yet I hadn't found any sign of their 8 .

    After knowing what they were 9 , I wanted to help them even though we didn't have much ourselves. So, I became a 10 shopper. I looked for discount offers everywhere, and when I finished my 11 , I would offer to buy things for Tammy at the 12 price. It seems like our money goes even further because we are willing to 13 .

    It goes the other way too. Tammy and her husband have given us enough wood to 14 our house this winter. It has been a huge 15 , reducing our gas bill to almost nothing. There are other 16 of helping each other. I teach Tammy how to make bread; she 17 my kids when I go to job interviews...and the 18 goes on.

    I don't have much to give, but I can give of myself. I can have 19 , love and hope, and the more I give these away, the more I 20 .

    The stage lights dimmed, and I took a quick look from behind the heavy black curtains into the audience. Blinded by the lights, I quickly 1. It seems that a great number of eyes were looking at me. I took a deep 2 as the music of my dance began to play. I entered the stage and began my 3, the graduation test of the classical Indian dance.

    After a decade of learning this art form, I had 4 been considered ready to take on the most difficult act. The test is the most important event in a dancer's life as it pays 5 to all the factors in one's life that 6 the dance form: one's culture and family.

    The performance is undertaken only by the most 7 and determined students. It is a difficult process that requires much 8. For more than six months, I spent two to three hours every day9 these dances. Many times, I 10 myself to my physical and mental breaking point, but still I would not stop. I could not give up. There was always so much more to do and so much more to 11.

    I 12 a lot about myself in those tiring hours. I learned that I was far too 13 to give up, and I was too proud to prove myself 14 after I had set an unrealistic goal. Even with physical pain and mental 15, I forced myself to meet my 16. Even when I was at the end of my 17, there was always something driving me on, forcing me not to give up.

    Fortunately, I made it. What I had done 18 the success. It was in those hours that I learned what a dancer 19 is. Those time was evidence that I could 20 something I set out to do.

    From the time each of my children started school, I packed their lunches. And in each lunch, I1a note. Often written on a napkin (餐巾), it might be a thank-you for2moment, a reminder of something we were happily expecting, or a bit of3for the coming test or sporting event.

    In early grade school they4their notes. But as children grow older they become self-conscious (有自我意识) and5he reached high school, my older son, Marc, informed me he no longer6my daily notes. Telling him that he no longer needed to7them but I still needed to write them. I8until the day he graduated.

    Six years after high school graduation, Marc called and asked if he could move9for a couple of months. He had spent those years well, graduating from college,10two interships (实习) in Washington, D.C., and11, becoming a technical assistant in Sacramento.12short vacation visits, however, he had lived away from home. With his younger sister leaving for college, I was13happy to have Marc back. Since I was14making lunch for his younger brother, I15one for Marc, too. Imagine my16when I got a call from my 24-year-old son,17his lunch.

    "Did I do something18? Don't you love me19, Mom?" were just a few of the questions he threw at me as I20asked him what was wrong.

    "My note, mom," he answered. "Where's my note?"