"What's it like to have a gap between your teeth?" a girl asked me one day.

    Nobody had ever 1 before. My hand unconsciously rose to cover my mouth. But, as she looked at me, sincerely waiting for2, 1 realized she was not trying to be rude. "I never think about it," I truthfully replied. She nodded and turned away. I was left wondering if people3 me and saw only gappy teeth.

    Later that day at home, I began to 4 my teeth again. I felt upset. I thought my life would be somehow better if my teeth were not gappy. How I wanted the perfect teeth that everyone else seemed to have!

    Of course, Mom 5everything . She has lived her entire life with gappy teeth, and tried to convince me that there was nothing to 6. When I refused to listen, she told me I could get the surgery to close the gap if it was that important. "Let's be 7, though," she said. "If everyone got surgeries to become pretty, everyone would be exactly the same. There is beauty in differences."

    Her 8 made me consider my teeth seriously. The thought of losing my gap was more terrible than the reality that people were going to notice it. I realized how important it was to me. It is part of my9.

    Nowadays many people do ridiculous things to realize their dream of "perfection." The10 is that no one is perfect. When all potential for ugliness is removed, so is all of the potential for11.

    So if that girl ever asked about my teeth 12, I would truthfully answer. "You know? It's really cute."

    My previous home had a stand of woods behind it and many animals in the backyard. That first year, I1 feeding peanuts to the blue jays, then the squirrels. The squirrels had no2 coming up right to me for them. As the months went by, the rabbits saw that I was no 3and didn't escape. When I threw carrot slices(薄片)，they even came for a nibble(啃).Slowly they came to4 me, and by the end of the year they were eating out of my hand.

    That second year, the rabbits5 me, and one would even sit up for slices! While I was feeding them, I 6 that a groundhog who used to run away was now taking an7interest in this food situation. I carefully extended a long8, with a keen eye on those teeth, and 9,there were times I would have the groundhog sitting next to a rabbit, both munching(津津有味的咀嚼) on carrots. A few months later, while 10,she would even turn her back to me.11when she was facing away, I reached out and 12scratched（搔）her back with my finger, She didn't move.

    By year three, the rabbits and the groundhog were back. The groundhog 13didn't have a problem with me scratching her back, and I got an idea, I'd always14,while slicing up carrots, that the end looked like a cap.15one day, just to see what she would do ,I gently 16 one on top of the groundhog's head. Again, not a 17,The next time, I had my camera ready to record what you see here, one of several dozen such pictures,18she had a slice to eat, she never 19 the one of her head. It was a fair 20 —I got a pleasure, and she had yet another tasty treat.

    My wife Pat and I were having drinks outside our home, The weather was unusually1for March in Mississippi, There was barely any breeze, After we finished the second cup, flashes of2danced across the sky. When the first drops of rain drove us3 the phone rang.Pat's face4on that gray and hot day. It was our son, David, a helicopter pilot who5in the US Air Force in South Korea. David intended to sound6but we recognized the sign of homesickness from his voice7the power of conversation made us feel8until a crash shook the windows.

    David wondered what it was,“Just thunder,”Pat said.

    There were several seconds of silence,“David”,I asked, “are yo9there?”

    “Yes…apart from the two of you, do you know what else I10most? Thunder, We have rain, wind, and11here, but it never thunders, Remember? Dad, when I was a kid, you laughed me out of fear of thunder? I wish I were there to12with you now.”

    “Yes…”I said, trying to13my tears, On hanging up the phone, I told Pat,“I'm going to record our son some 14”“Bob, the neighbors will think you're crazy.”

    “David won't,” I said and went outside with a recorder, Later I15the tape to David with a single line:A16gift.

    David called again, “Dad,”he said,“you won't believe that some friends and I had a thunder party where we realized we were listening to the sounds of 17 Thanks, Dad! It was really a special present,” While David was in Korea, we found ourselves 18thunderstorms.19feeling blue, we regarded the thunder as special which let us know that wherever we might be, we were 20together as a family.

    Danielle was living in a new city with no local bank of her own. She desperately needed to 1 a bank to cash her paycheck. For more than two weeks, she made 2 one after another but in vain. How could she continue to 3 herself and her two children as a single mother?

    Taking a break from her 4, Danielle decided to attend a meeting at the local women's resource center. The women there had been a strong source of encouragement since she fled her home 5 for her safety. Sitting next to Danielle, Amy began to share the details of her 6 situation. She was just days away from 7 her home and her car. Her phone and electric services were both scheduled to be 8. Her husband had gambled away their money. She had nothing left. Nothing!

    As Amy described the degree of the situation, Danielle 9 God's soft whisper in her heart: “After the meeting, give Amy twenty dollars.” Danielle immediately thought, “But I can't lonely have forty dollars.” She heard the 10 again. Danielle knew she needed to follow. When the meeting 11, she reached in to her purse and 12 handed twenty dollars to Amy. Knowing Danielle's situation, Amy was 13 to accept it at first. But as a crowd of women 14 to give Amy hugs of support, Danielle told her that God wanted her to have it. Then Danielle left.

    Now with just twenty dollars left in her wallet, Danielle decided to 15 cashing her pay check at just one more bank before heading home. 16 she expected the rejection she had received at so many other banks, she was 17 filled with renewed confidence and optimism. Hopefully, she walked in to the bank next to the women's center. Moments later, the bank 18 her pay check with no questions asked. Wearing a big smile, Danielle returned home.

    As for Danielle, it has been three years since that day. Realizing true hope has no 19, she continues to be 20 for the life time supply that she received for just twenty dollars.

    A Milwaukee bus driver went above the call of duty when she stopped to save an unlikely would-be passenger: a toddler.

    Irene Ivic was driving on a freeway overpass when she 1 a barefoot toddler, Milwaukee County Transit System spokesman Matt Sliker said. The child, wearing a red onesie and a diaper, was quickly 2 to the crossroads.

    "I'm just 3 I was in the right place at the right time, "Ivic said at the awards ceremony held in her 4 on Thursday.

    Ivic stopped the bus and ran out to 5 the toddler, as seen in a video 6 by the transit system. She carried the child to the bus, 7 passengers gathered in disbelief.

    "Oh my God. Oh my God. I am  8, "Ivic said in the video as she sat down in the driver's seat with the toddler.

    A 9 on the bus took off her winter coat and wrapped it 10 the little girl, who was 11 to the touch. The 12 were freezing that day, on December 22, according to the transit system.

    Ivic sat talking to the child, stroking her hair. The little one soon fell asleep in her 13, as seen in the video.

    The 19-month-old had been cold and scared but was 14 unharmed, police said.

    The child went missing after officials believe her mother had a 15 health crisis, the transit system statement said. "Authorities eventually 16 the baby with its father,"Sliker said.

    This is the ninth 17 a lost or missing child has been 18 by a Milwaukee County Transit System driver in recent years, according to the statement.

    "I absolutely love kids. I used to be a 19 and I have children of my own, so I'm so happy I was able to help this sweet, 20 baby, "Ivic said.