My Hero

    What does it mean to be a hero? I think a hero is someone who goes out of his way to make others happy. My hero is Mr. Wright, my chorus(合唱队) teacher.

    When I was 12 years old, my grandparents passed away. I was really close to them, and losing them was the hardest thing I've ever had to1through. I couldn't eat, sleep, or think; I felt like I couldn't even breathe. It was as if my whole world had fallen down from under me, and I2into this huge hole of depression(抑郁).

    3I was battling depression, I was determined to make my high school years the best of my life. It was difficult to be 4, but I had to try. I joined Women's Choir. Mr. Wright was the choral director and he was so funny that the first day, I just knew I had made the best5of my life. As the year progressed, I loved chorus more and more. I began to smile again and really enjoy 6.

    Then one day that all changed. My friends—or those that I thought were my friends—started talking about me behind my back. I was7 , and I sat by myself. Mr. Wright came over and asked what was wrong. The look in his eyes told me that I could8him. Trying hard to9 back tears, I told him the whole story.

    When I finished, he nodded and told me, “If you never learn anything from me, learn this: No one is worth 10 your joy.” What Mr. Wright said really11a chord (心弦) in my heart. He 12 cared about me and what was going on. I'll never be able to thank him enough, because he not only saved me but has13every day of it since. Any time I feel like giving 14, I remember Mr. Wright's words and push forward.

    I'm proud to say that I 15 my depression, and I'm now a senior. I'm still a16of chorus, and now I'm also in the best choir at my school.

Mr. Wright is a hero 17 everyone he meets. He cares about every single person who walks through his door, and he loves what he does more than any other teacher I've known. That's18  he deserves to be Educator of the Year. He deserves the19 not just this year but every year.

    I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet you, Mr. Wright. You are an 20teacher, and I hope you realize that. You're my hero.

    Last week I talked with Mandy, a mother of a young teenager in my class. She was telling me how 1 it was for her son at school, because he is in a school uniform that doesn't 2 him as he's outgrown it. Since her husband and she both lost their 3 in the last couple of years, they have been searching and interviewing persistently (坚持不懈地). 4, unfortunately they are still out of work.

    Now I know the fact that they just can't 5 a new one. She wiped away 6 as she told me sadly that she is 7 trying to buy a new shirt, then trousers, then… then shoes.

    I know her well enough to know that she doesn't 8 want to get my sympathy or help. She's 9 asked for anything from me, either. She was just telling me the honest 10. I felt moved to go to the 11 to draw money out from my own account through ATM and come back with a bit of savings of my own 12 I believe I can spare. I told her to just go and buy the 13, and not to tell anyone that I did this but her husband.

    I also made it clear to her that nothing is 14 —no payback, nothing. It's a gift done, so I can enjoy 15, and that is all I need right now. I told her that she was also doing me a favor, 16 she let me know everything. She was so 17 for what I had done for her that she was moved to tears, but I really just feel happy that her boy won't continue to be 18 for his ugly uniform. I know what that is like, and as a victim of school bullying (恃强欺弱) when young, I can say 19 it hurts for a long time. I felt so 20 to be able to do this!

    Many years ago, I was working in an office in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had a large1that looked out over a busy street. I was standing by it one day when a woman in a2 car looked up and made eye contact. Naturally I 3. As she turned and tried to identify me, a quiet laugh 4my lips. My co-workers began taking an interest, and stood back watching the5I received, and laughing happily. Then the stress of work was6away.

    Christmas approached, and job 7 were announced. Several of my co-workers were losing their jobs, and everyone was8. While I was working a night shift, a red jacket, a box of foam (泡沫橡胶) packing and strips of tape in the corner attracted my 9 They could be Santa's jacket and beard! Then I folded a red file into a 10 and tied the beard to it.

    The next day I walked 11 down into the office in the costume. My co-workers 12 around me and laughed for the first time in weeks. Suddenly, my boss came up to me13 shook his head and then left. I feared 14. Then the phone rang.

    With a bead of sweat 15 my forehead, I entered the boss' office.16he laughed: “Thanks, Mike! It's been hard to enjoy the Christmas season. Thanks for the laugh. I 17 it.”

    That evening, I stood 18by the window and waved at my fans, with my heart 19with joy. For a few minutes of that day, we'd been able to forget our 20

    Recently I was shopping in the local Walmart. There I 1a former coworker. We started 2 about old times when we worked together at the store. Looking at her I could 3 that she was not in the best of health so I asked, “When are you going to 4?” She told me with tears in her eyes that she had 5 retired but had to come back to 6 because she couldn't make ends meet with her retirement 7. I told her how sorry I was and left the store.

    A week later, I was 8 to have a little extra cash and I was looking for someone to 9 it with. It wasn't a ton of money 10 it was more than what I had and I wanted to show my 11 by giving a bit of it to someone else. I was 12 at Walmart again and I noticed the same 13 I had talked to a week earlier.

    As soon as I 14 her I thought she could be one of the people I share my blessing with. I walked up to her. I 15 her by name and asked her, “If I16 you something, will you keep it and not try to give it back?” She 17 at me, puzzled and said yes. At the same 18 I reached in my pocket and pulled out a $100 bill and put it in her hand. When she saw what it was she looked 19 and asked “Why me?” I saw her tears rolling down her face.

    I walked away because I 20 myself about to cry.

    At the age of 60, my father was hit by a car when he walked to a nearby supermarket to buy vegetables. After 1 for two months in hospital, he finally woke up. His waking up 2all our family. 3, he didn't know any of us. Doctors said his brain was hurt so 4 that he had lost all his memory. And his mental age(心理年龄) was only five. We were sorry to hear about the bad news.

    Since I was his only child, it was my 5 to look after him. He forgot6 everything, but he did remember he liked sweets. I used the sweets as a way of 7 bad behaviors. I would gave him one sweet 8he didn't sit on the ground, a second for stopping painting on the wall, and another for not trying to put clothes on the dog.

Dad became the 9 child in town. He climbed up the tree to catch a bird and couldn't get down after it 10 away. He broke my window with a ball and 11 our telephone in water like washing clothes. When I told him he was doing 12 things, he would answer smilingly, "I like that!" My son, then aged five, and two eight-year-old daughters, welcomed their 13 playmate. He would happily make them real cigarettes, 14 his sweets with them, and carry them high in the apple tree to15 apples.

    It is eight years since the 16. Dad has accepted the fact that he is the 17 of his three playmates but not a brother. He has also accepted that they grow taller but his 18 stays the same. Though it is still 19 to take care of him, he brings us a lot of fun. In some way I think it is a(n) 20 thing to look after dad like looking after a child. How many people can have the chance to care for a child-like parent?

    It was a cold, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up for two hours along the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn's house. But she had1that I come to see something at the top of the mountain. So here I was, 2making the two-hour journey through the thick fog. Nothing could be worth this, I thought as I inched along the 3 highway.

    "I'll stay for lunch, but I'm 4back home straight after that," I announced when I arrived.

    "But I need you to drive me to the garage to5my car," Carolyn said. "Could we6 do that?"

    Turning down a narrow track, we parked the car and got out. To my7, the views before my eyes were 8 words.

    From the 9 of the mountain, sloping for several acres across valleys, were rivers of flowers in bloom. A mass of 10 —from the palest ivory to the deepest lemon and then to the most vivid pink—shone like a carpet before us. It looked 11 the sun had spilled gold down the mountainside.

    A series of questions 12 my mind. Who13 such beauty? When? How?

    As we approached the house that14 in the center of the land, we saw a sign that 15: "Answers to the Questions; I Know You Are 16."

    The first answer was: "One Woman—Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain." The second was: "One at a Time." The third: "17 in 1958."

    As we drove home, I was so moved by what we had seen. The18of it would not let me go. "Imagine," I said, "if I'd had a vision and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have 19?"

    Carolyn looked at me, smiling. "Start tomorrow," she said. "20 yet, start today."