A mother's love

    I'm a New York City firefighter. Every day, I see terror— sometimes even death. But the day I found Scarlett was different. That day I saw life. And love.

    We were responding to a call about a burning garage. Outside, I heard the sound of cats crying. I couldn't stop — I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.

    It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control, but we did it. No one inside was hurt.

    At that point I was free to investigate the cat noises. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing(猫叫) to a spot on the sidewalk near the front of the garage. There, crying and huddled(挤作一团) together, were five terrified kittens. They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly singed(烫烧).

    I left the five kittens in a box on a neighbor's porch(门廊).

    I wanted to find the mother. It was obvious that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all of her babies, one by one —unbelievable.

    We finally found her. She was badly burnt: her eyes were blistered (起水泡), her paws(爪子) were blackened, and her fur was singed all over. You could even see her reddened skin beneath the burned fur. She could barely move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. Sensing her trust, I shed a tear. I was determined to save this brave little cat and her family.

    The vet told me they would observe the kittens and their mother overnight, but they weren't optimistic about the mother's changes.

    About a week later, I found out she was going to live. One of the technicians suggested we name her Scarlett, because of her reddened skin.

    Knowing what Scarlett endured(忍受) for her kittens, it melted my heart to see her reunited with them. She touched each of them again, nose to nose, to make sure they were all safe. She had risked her life five separate times — and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.

    As a firefighter, I see heroism(英雄事迹) every day. But what Scarlett showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother's love.

    A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Weboholism, a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use email and speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.

    Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. This obsessional behavior has affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log on computers and spend long hours at different websites.

    They become hooked on computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don't concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.

    They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.

    Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to isolate themselves from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real live friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world.

    Once, Buddha was walking from one town to another with some of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his followers, “I am thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake there”.

The follower walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing the lake right at the edge of it. As a result, the water became very muddy, very dirty. The follower thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?!” So he came back and told the Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink”.

    So, the Buddha said, let us take a little rest here by the tree. After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same follower to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The follower obediently (顺从地) went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.

The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the follower and said, “See, you let the water be and the mud settled down on its own. You got clear water. It didn't require any effort”.

Our mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time and it will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. We can judge and best decisions of our life when we stay calm.

    Weighing too much can damage your health, and obesity is a growing problem for both kids and adults around the world. Sleep might be one answer to the problem. A new study has found that elementary school students who slept too little were more likely to gain pounds.

    Past studies have shown a link between sleeping less and weighing more, but scientists have had a tough time determining "which came first, the chicken or the egg," says Julie C. Lumeng of the university of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In other words, it hasn't been clear whether kids who weigh too much have trouble sleeping, or whether sleeping less leads to weight gain. Both scenarios (可能出现的情况) seemed equally possible.

    To get a better idea of which causes which, Lumeng and her colleagues interviewed the parents of 785 third graders from around the United States. The parents answered questions about how well their kids slept that year. Three years later, the parents answered the same questions. By sixth grade, 18percent of kids involved in the study were obese.

    The scientists found no relationship between weight and the students' race or gender. It also didn't matter how strict their parents were, or whether they were boys or girls. Obesity struck all of these groups equally. Instead, sleep seemed to be the key factor. Over the three years of study, the children averaged a healthy 9. 5 hours of sleep a night. Some kids, however, slept a lot more or less than others.

    For the sixth graders, every hour of sleep above the 9. 5houraverage was linked to a 20 percent lower risk of being obese. Sleep appeared doubly important for the third graders. Every extra hour of sleep they got was linked to a 40 percent drop in obesity.

    My father was attached to gardening by birth. One of my earliest memories is following Dad barefoot around in the garden with both hands blackened from digging in the soil. The garden was a wonderland full of possibilities.

    As Dad grew older, he still loved gardening. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he still planted all sorts of plants. Sometimes, I would come over to visit, and we would walk together in the garden. But then, something changed. Like the weeds that took over his garden, the cancer grew rapidly in Dad, and the doctor gave up. I stayed with Dad twenty-four hours a day and I found myself in all kinds of uncomfortable situations with Dad until I promised to care for the garden.

    Though I had heard the words of the doctor, what really made me believe that Dad was dying was the state of his garden. That year, he only planted tomatoes. Too tired to weed them, he simply tied them with strong strings to the fence and let them be. It made me sad to see them ignored, so I would come over and water them once in a while, and remove the weeds. I still remember the day I picked the last tomato from the vine(藤). That day was one of the saddest I had ever experienced in my life.

    Three years ago, I decided to plant my own garden. I decided I would start out with just a few tomatoes. That morning when I moved to the garden, something caught the corner of my eye and I had to smile. It was my eight-year-old son Nathan, standing barefoot in the soil, happily playing in soil.

    The phone ID flashed，“Emergency Vet”.“ Oh no” I whispered. I could not lose Merlin now.

    Ron and I had tried to have children for a long time with depressing results. I threw myself into my work. Any maternal feelings I had were spent on Merlin.

    I couldn't wait to get home from work each night. I wanted to pick up that warm bundle of loving fur and nestle him. I wanted to sing “Rock-a-bye Merlin”，as I did every night as he would put his paws around my neck.

    Merlin was my comfort especially at times when I wondered if God was listening. But last night something had changed. Not only did I sing “Rock-a-Bye M1erlin”,but I asked, you 're gone？”

    Although Merlin was 19 years old, a senior in the· age of a cat, he didn't look or act that way. I didn't want to accept the fact that he was nearing the end of his lifetime. My job at the law firm was so demanding and stressful that I couldn't imagine getting through the day without Merlin waiting to greet me at home.

    I dialed the vet's number. I asked for my husband but he already left. Then I took a breath and asked the question that no one wants to ask，“Is my Merlin still alive？”The nurse said“ yes.”

    Ron came home and said that Merlin had almost no red blood cells left. White blood cells were replacing them. Merlin would need expensive transfusions most likely on a monthly basis. We both knew Merlin was running out of time. I asked Ron to drive me to the vet so I could say goodbye to my little boy cat but he was beat tired and it was late. Ron said if Merlin was still alive he next morning then he would take me to the vet.

    The next morning I called the vet. Merlin had survived the night. After driving to the vet, I went into the examining room. The nurse brought Merlin and placed him on an examining table on his side. His eyes were tightly shut. I thought he died already. I carefully edged my hand to reach his body. His body felt warm, but when I spoke his name there was no response. No response to his name or that I was there and that I loved him. I was extremely sad. In that examining room I felt helpless. I wondered how many people in an examining room felt as helpless as I did. Feeling driven to prayer I yelled, “God this isn't good enough. I need to see my Merlin the way I remember him, I need a miracle and I need it now！”

    At that moment, God granted a miracle. Merlin's favorite compliment entered my mind. I said, “Merlin, you are beautiful and you are gorgeous, do you hear me？”

One eye opened.

    I said “Gotcha”. I kept repeating those words.

    Merlin opened the other eye and, one limb at a time, got up. He was waiting for that phrase. He wanted to hear that he was beautiful and gorgeous again.

    Then I experienced another miracle.

    There was no sound in that examining room until Merlin started walking to me. From out of nowhere, or maybe from heaven, I clearly heard a song we sung in church often: “It Is Well With My Soul.” I remember叫thinking，“Yes, it is well with my soul. I got to see my little boy cat one more time.”

    Merlin walked to me. He put his face in mine, which he had never done before. He rubbed a circle around my face twice. Merlin said goodbye with his face and marked me for life.

    Ron appeared shocked that Merlin was up and had walked to me. I said to Merlin，“Tell God you are a good boy and how much we love you”and then handed him back to the nurse.

    Tears of gratitude poured forth in memory of a miracle. You see for nineteen years God spoke to me through a special cat named granted a miracle. That miracle gave me time to say goodbye.