When I was eight, I wrote my first poem. My mother read and cried, “Buddy, you didn't really write this beautiful poem!” Shyly, but1, I said yes. She poured out her 2.“It was nothing short of talent!”“What time will Father be home?” I asked. I could 3 wait to show my work to him. I spent quite some time 4 for his arrival. I wrote the poem out in my finest flourish(花体字), drew a fancy border around it and 5 I placed it right on my father's plate on the dining table. My father had begun his motion-picture career as a writer. I was sure he would be able to 6 my poem.

    At almost 7 o'clock my father burst in. He seemed 7. He circled the dining-room table, complaining about his employees. 8 he paused and glared at his plate. “What is this?” He's reaching for my poem. “Ben, Buddy has written his first poem!” my mother began. “And it's beautiful, absolutely amaze...” “If you don't mind, I'd like to decide for myself.” Father said. I 9 my head as he read that poem. It was only ten lines. But it seemed to take hours. Then I heard him dropping the poem back on the table. Now came the moment of 10. “I think it's terrible,” he said. I couldn't look up. My eyes were getting 11.

    “Ben, these are the first lines of poetry he's ever written,” my mother was saying. “He needs encouragement.” “I don't know why.” My father held his ground. “Isn't there enough 12 poetry in the world already?” I couldn't 13it another second. I ran from the dining room crying. Up in my room I 14 myself on the bed and cried the worst of the disappointment out of me.

    That may have been the end of the story, but not of its 15 for me. I realized how 16 I had been. I had a mother who said, “I think it's wonderful!” and a father who drove me to hear with “I think it's awful.” Every one of us needs that mother force, from which all creation flows; and yet the mother force alone is 17. It needs the balance of the force that 18, “Watch. Listen. Review. Improve.”

    Those 19 voices of my childhood ring in my ears through the years, like two opposing winds blowing me. 20 the two poles of confirmation and doubt, both in the name of love, I try to follow my true course.

    Six years ago, I walked into a local animal shelter on a cold, rainy day.1my house was already full of cats and dogs, I still couldn't 2an occasional visit to the shelter. This time as I was walking down the row of pens(畜栏) full of barking dogs, I3a small boy looking into one of them.

    He had a malnourished（营养不良的）looking body and a4face with a big nose5out of the middle of it. He was looking at a small golden dog. Its ribs（肋骨）were showing and its thin tail was folded between its legs. It wasn't begging for6like the other puppies7was hiding in the corner instead. The boy looked up at me with8eyes and asked what was wrong with it. “It was probably abused and9 ” I said. “That is why it is so 10 ”

    The boy 11turned to an old lady and said, “ Grandma, I want this one.” The old woman smiled and walked to the front desk to fill out the 12forms. I followed her and asked 13the boy. She told me that he'd had a 14start in life, too. She had just gotten custody(监护权) of him15the state had taken him from his parents. She hoped getting a dog would make his life 16for him. I looked back at him, holding his scared puppy, and said a prayer for them both.

    It was yesterday that I was driving down the road enjoying a gloriously sunny, spring day. Then in a green front yard I saw the boy. His 17body was tall and strong. His nose no longer 18big but fit well into his smiling face. He was throwing a ball to a healthy, happy dog shining golden hair. His little act of love and 19had indeed gone a long way. It had saved a dog's life, 20his own heart, and given this middle-aged man fresh hope for the whole world.

    For me personally, I could write for days about many different situations where adversity (逆境)1my life. Now let me tell you one experience where I almost let adversity2.

    We had a glass studio, which was located 50 feet from our home. A couple of years ago we experienced an 3winter; we had a lot of snow and ice. The4of the ice and snow5the roof on our studio, taking with it one of our sources of income.6it did fall down, we got on the roof and tried to 7the snow and ice, but when you have 5 feet of ice and temperatures of minus 20 Celsius, it was pretty8to do.

    We had a partner come in to help us try to9the roof by supporting. In the end, there was 10that could be done. The roof came down. We had moved a lot of our goods and tools from the studio11 we lost a lot also: glass, kilns, work benches, to name only a few of the items. It was a 12experience.

    Here we were in the middle of winter with our studio collapsed. We couldn't work as we had almost 13all the material in a building we were not using. We could have done one of two things: we could simply say that we can no longer 14 our glass business. Let me tell you that this was certainly a thought that15our mind. Or we could find a way to get our studio back up and running.

    We picked the16option. We had a large barn that we were not using. So we renovated (翻新) the barn17our working area and today we have a nicer studio than we 18 had. If the adversity we were19had not happened, we probably would20be working in the old studio—a studio that was less efficient.

    When Thomas Moore, 11, stepped up to the plate (棒球比赛中的本垒板) at Oriole Park at Camden Yard in Baltimore, the crowd went wild. It was the biggest applause（掌声） the park had ever heard for a 1 baseball player.

    "I was very 2. I didn't know that was going to happen," says Moore.

    What happened was that the Baltimore Orioles (金莺队) and their fans were recognizing Moore 3 a hero for something he did that nobody in the city ever 4. After seeing a picture of a young cancer 5 on social media, Moore let his hair grow for two and a half years. Then he donated his hair and helped provide wigs (假发) for three kids 6 cancer through having chemotherapy.

    This7boy had no idea what was waiting to happen to him 8 he decided on his act of kindness. "I just thought I got 9 to an Orioles game," he says.

    Moore is one of just 50 heroes recognized by the team-and the one 10has so far inspired the biggest reaction. He waved and smiled when he was 11 on the big screen, and he enjoyed being 12by strangers. Just as exciting: before the game, he had the 13 to talk to Orioles star Adam Jones.

    "We talked about my hair 14," Moore says. "I felt even more proud of myself. And I was already proud."

    Jones said that Moore was a role 15 for other kids.

    Besides meeting one of his heroes, Moore got to meet someone who 16 him as a hero, Mo Gaba, an 11-year-old who is fighting cancer and 17 from one of Moore's wigs. Baltimore's radio listening community has helped 18 more than US$33,000 on the Internet to help with Gaba's medical care. His cancer 19haven't broken his spirit or affected his 20 for the game.

    In one of my college classes, we were required to do an act of kindness. My project included 1lunch for an elderly person. When I2the elderly person with the food I cooked, it never3to me that it would result in a new friendship and the discovery of a4.

    The person I visited was Bill, who was unable to5much. A nurse came regularly to help him move to and from the wheelchair because he has no6. Bill said he was delighted to see me and it was a7for him to eat a meal with me because he usually eats8. He said the food was great, but he enjoyed having9even more than the food.

    Bill had had a10life when working on the railroad and had many11stories to tell about his travels to many places. I was12a trip because of his stories. I had once13about traveling by train. However, I would14be going by train after meeting Bill.

    Perhaps the biggest15of this project was that I suddenly realized that I am16of working with the elderly. Spending time with them was fun-they have so much life experience to17. On the one hand, I am a good18. On the other hand, older people want someone to know their inner world, so it is a perfect19. I decided to focus my studies on the20. Hopefully in the future, I will work with them to help even more people like Bill.

    Like many military wives, I had to stand the long separations until my husband retired. Though I supported him in his chosen career, I1every moment away from him.

    To 2 our separations, I wrote letters every day. I made up dozens of small 3 for him which I secretly put into his bag, so that he could 4 them when he was out to sea. To this day those notes are still 5 to us.

    6in 1996 my husband retired from the Navy. But the only job 7 for my husband was six and a half hours of driving away in Norfolk, Virginia.

    We spent eight months 8. That was our hardest separation, perhaps because we had 9 planned to be apart again. He 10 to apply for jobs in the area where we hoped to live. We expected we would soon be able to be 11 again.

    One day Louie called me with the good 12 . He found a job in southwest Virginia. We were excited! There was only one small 13. Louie would have to live in a camper (露营车), while our daughters and I lived in a little house an hour and a half of driving 14. My daughters were 15 enough to take care of themselves? So I left them and stayed with Louie.

    Louie and I spent several 16 weeks together. One morning after he left for work, I sat 17 in the camper trying to remember any possession that was as priceless as the 18 we stayed together. I couldn't 19 a single thing. Then all of us moved into that camper and lived there for a year. It was pure joy! I've learned that the greatest 20 I have is the time I've spent with the ones I love.