The Depression was still going on, but I was in good spirits. I was going to graduate from elementary school, yet my mother 1dressed me in shorts. Most of my classmates had given up 2 shorts. For the graduation ceremony, all the boys were 3 to dress the same way-white shirts and dark-blue wool pants.

   I waited until a week before I told my mother. I 4 I'd better break the news to her as gently as I could.

    "Mom," I said, "about 5……"

    "Yes?" she answered.

    "They're going to give me the first –prize medal," I said.

    She looked 6 her shoulder at me and smiled. "That's wonderful, Babe. Dad and I will both be there, and we'll be the 7parents in the place."

    She must have seen by the look on my face that 8 was wrong. She turned her back and said, "So?"

    "So, I have to get 9 pants," I said.

    "Babe, we don't have the 10 for new pants right now," she said very quietly, "You know that."

    "Ok," I burst out. "Then I won't go to graduation. Plus, I'm 11 away from home!" 

    The following Saturday, when my mother said, "Let's go shopping," I knew she had 12 the problem. We walked a short way and stopped at a place I had never 13 before. My mother said, " 14 here," She entered a storefront that looked like a 15. She came out about ten minutes later, and we went to the pants store. I was holding the new pants 16 under my arm when my mother went to pay for it. I saw her 17 a tiny brown envelope from her purse. There were four 18 new one-dollar bills inside.

    About halfway home, I  19 down at my mother's hands. It was then that I saw the wedding ring that had always circled her ring finger was 20 there.

    As we slowly drove down the street on that cold December evening we spotted the porch（门廊）light."This1be the house."I told our "Positive Teens In Action" group with certainty.We2in front of an older home with the porch light shining.We gathered up our3books,walked up the steps,and4on the door.We heard a5voice from inside say,"Come in.The door is open."We opened the door.

    There in a rocking chair6an elderly woman with a big7on her face."I've been8you,"she said weakly. Ruth was one of our "Meals On Wheels" stops I had9.I had phoned her and told her about it.Going along with me were the10church members who11singing carols（颁歌）.We12Ruth the basket of delicious food the teens had prepared earlier that evening.Then I asked Ruth what carols she would like to13.Ruth was smiling cheerfully when she14singing each song.

    15we hugged Ruth good-bye she said to me with tears in her eyes,"The day you16I was still in bed.l had just finished17.I asked God if it would be possible to have some Christmas carolers come to my home and18this year.Thank you for being the19to my Christmas prayer."

    Wow,what an awesome20to have the opportunity to make Ruth quite content!

    As I walked into the primary school, I looked down at my new black Mary Jane shoes—I wanted to be anywhere in the world but Fountain Inn Elementary School. I stood at Mrs. Blackstone's door. Before I tried the1, the wooden door suddenly opened. "We've been waiting for you!" Mrs. Blackstone, my new fifth grade teacher said at an unusually2voice. With a smile my mom walked away and I was left3in front of a group of students.

    Over the next few days, Mrs. Blackstone made it her4to find me a new best friend and help me join a choir（合唱队）. During history5, when I sat down at my desk6I didn't want to speak in front of the class, she would not only call on me but have me stand up to7my classmates. She laughed at my nervousness when I wouldn't get in line to sharpen my pencil 8being embarrassed. Her silliness made me smile and finally feel9in the new environment.

    One spring afternoon, Mrs. Blackstone 10me to stay after class. "I'd like to speak with you, Amanda." My mind 11. Had I made a bad grade? Had I hurt someone's feelings? "Are you enjoying your new school?" she sat comfortably behind her desk, "I want to tell you12, between you and me, not to be shared with anyone else." "Okay." My throat 13felt very dry. With her14raised, she said, "I see something15in you. I've been a teacher for over twenty-five years; I can16it. But you17believe in yourself. That's very important. Remember that and you'll go18."

    Her voice was19to my ears that day. I walked out of her class,20staring at my Mary Jane shoes. My teacher saw something special in me!

    For most people, graduation day is exciting. My graduation day, 1 was not.

    I remember that weekend two years ago. My family and my friends had come to watch our class walk across that 2. But like everyone in my graduating class, I had watched the economy 3from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had 4 but very limited prospects(前景). Numerous applications were 5 and I knew that the next day, when my lease(租约)ended，I would no longer have a place to 6"home".

    The weeks 7 were not easy. I drove to California to find work. But what I thought would 8me a week dragged into two, and then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself 9I was before.

    Days 10 like weeks, weeks like months and those many months seemed 11. The most 12 part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't seem to make any 13.

    Then I began to write. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer – a little brighter. Something about writing gave me 14.

    I put my frustration into a children's 15, one story of which was about a(n) 16, a little fish, who, fighting in a "river", 17 to give up his dream. I kept on writing. And then one day, 18 any sort of writing degree or contracts in the writing world – just a lot of hard work and perseverance – I was offered a publishing contract for my first book! After that, things began to be in 19 soon. I was offered a second book deal. Then a few months later, I got an interview with the Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.

    The lesson of the story: Work hard, give it time and don't give up. Often our dreams lie in wait just a little further upstream. All we need is the20 to push beyond the "river".

    Last summer, we went to Hawaii for holiday. During my1 trip with my husband, we spent most of our time2 during the day in the sea, and then enjoying walks along the beach in the evenings.

    We didn't take any3because we had enough. We had visited the island many times 4. On our way to the 5 we joked that other than our sunburnt skin, we had no way to show that we had 6 there!

    As we stood in line at the check-in, we noticed the 7 who had been on our plane the week before. 8, they all had tear-filled eyes this day. On the plane, we sat directly behind them: a mother and her four children without Dad's 9. We learned that the father had been 10 in a jet-skiing accident that week, and his wife and children had to 11 make their way home without him.

    We watched the children become 12while they were playing cards. But the mother stared at her knees, 13 to believe her husband's death. We could 14 feel her pain as we realized that this could have happened to any of us. 15 we were laughing and playing in the water, this poor family had been 16 the sufferings. The vacation they had dreamed about had17the terrible dream they would never forget.

    I suddenly 18 that we had no pictures for this vacation together. I closed my eyes, 19 that my mind had recorded all the wonderful moments that I had 20 with my husband that week. What a trip!

    Haze Mabry has just turned 80 years old, and on his birthday, just like every other day, he reported to Pike County Elementary in Georgia where he works as a cleaner, prepared to clean.

    But to his1, that day was different from any other day. Just as he was settling in for a day of work, he was2by more than 750 people, including students, teachers and staff,3the hallways.

    The students had made handmade4and banners(横幅), and they all sang happy birthday and shouted his name as he5by.

    "They're like my children ," Mabry said in a(n)6with The Washington Post ."I'm like the old lady in the shoe."

    Mabry makes a point of interacting(互动)with the7when he can ."I know the little faces, but I don't know every8,"Mabry said ."Some of them make you know them."

    The unexpected celebration at school9Mabry how valued(珍视) he is by students and teachers alike ."He's the most10person in this whole building ,"said teacher Lori Gilreath, who11his surprise ."He won't brag(吹嘘) on himself, but it doesn't12what he's doing or where he is, he will13stop what he's doing to take care of a child if that child is having a14day."

    Haze spent the whole following weekend15the pile of handwritten cards he16!

    Maybe we can't all organize something as17as this birthday celebration, but it's a18:take any chance you get to make someone's day19, and let them know how they are valued! It can make much20.