A magazine article told about a woman in rural Florida who was recovering from a lengthy illness. She enjoyed sitting on her front porch in her1and, on this day, she watched her son 2his car. He raised it on blocks of wood, removed the tires and3on his back underneath the vehicle.

    4there was a loud crack and the car lurched (突然向一侧倾斜)to one side, pinning the young man underneath. She5for her husband who ran to assist, but he couldn't 6the car or the young man. He climbed into his own vehicle and sped away for7 .

    The mother, who hadn't8in months, realized that her son's groans(呻吟声) were growing9and she knew that it would be up to her to10the boy. She rose to her feet and walked on11legs to the car. Supporting herself, she12the car. The car rose a few inches — just enough to let the boy get13. Then she collapsed.

    After a thorough 14, she was found only to have suffered strained muscles. And the15doctor's words were most telling: "I will always wonder," he said, "how far she might have lifted that car if she had been16and strong."

    We've read similar stories about persons exhibiting almost super-human17in times of crises. This mother, and others like her, found the strength they needed to18the crisis at hand.

And so it is with all of us. When life19us down and it seems impossible to get back up, we need to find a way to do what needs to be done. We are 20than we think.

    I arrived at my mother's home for our Monday family dinner. Mother was 1 quilt after quilt from the boxes, 2 showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to 3and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the4of one box.

    “What is this?” I asked.

    “Oh?” Mom said, “That's Mama's quilt.”

    I 5 the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had pieced it together; 6designs, 7 pictures, a winding line on the right.

    “Grandmother made this?” I said, 8 My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This 9 didn't look like any of the quilts she had made.

    “Yes, right before she died. I 10 it home with me last year and made some 11” she said. “I'm still 12 on it. See, this is what I've done so far.”

    I looked at it more 13 At the center of the quilt, she had sewn a piece

of14 with these words:  “My mother made many quilts. She didn't get all lines15. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it 16. Her last quilt.”

    “Oh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said. It17to me that by completing my grandmother's quilt, my mother was honoring her own 18. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family

    19. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and 20 with the loving hands of another.

    Love Is Blind: The Magic of Tabby

    In October, 2003, 1 started my work at my local animal shelter's Adoption Department. Over the years, more than 50,000 animals have1the doors of the shelter. Most of them, I do not remember. But occasionally there are2animals, who touch me so deeply that I could never possibly3them. Tabby was one such animal.

    Tabby was an ancient Cocker Spaniel, probably 14 years old. What's more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby's chances at adoption seemed4at best. After all, we didn't have many adopters coming in5, “Can you show me all of your really old dogs who are also6?'' We had all thought that Tabby would live out the rest of her life at the7.

    One day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, had8Tabby's picture and stories on the shelter's website at home. They were interested in meeting her! It was the only9we ever received about Tabby. What could a young child possibly see in a 14-year-oid dog who was both blind and deaf? Most boys would want a dog who could grow with them and10through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would11be able to do that. But after meeting her, Loretta and Gary decided that she was the right dog for their family. They adopted Tabby!

    If Tabby's story had simply ended with her12adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed.13  it was what happened after her adoption that people might regard as “magic”. Gary14from seizures(癫痫). Since Gary and Tabby met they became15They did everything together. They became so “in tune” with one another that Tabby began to telegraph Gary's seizures16they occurred, giving his family a(n)17that one was about to strike. What's more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby's18 .

    How could it be? Nobody could explain19Tabby did it. But those of us who were fortunate enough to know her and her family had20the magic, the kind that has its roots in love.

    I had just arrived in this Asian country for a one-year teaching position. One day, I took the subway to visit some ancient palaces and temples in the downtown. The following account of what happened to me has taught me much about culture 1.

    Since all the 2 were taken, I stood. Suddenly, I felt someone pulling on my bag.3 I probably was in someone's way, I moved over slightly. 4 in one quick motion(动作), I felt my bag removed from my back, and in a flash it was5. I turned around to see who the thief was. I looked at the people standing behind me, but didn't see my bag or any 6.My heart sank and I began to7.

    I glanced around the car only to find directly across from me was an elderly lady, and sitting on her lap was my 8. I tried to get it back from her lap. But as I began to 9 it up, she quickly grabbed it back and held onto it. I looked around at the people standing beside me, and those sitting beside her, but no one took any 10 of the situation. Trying not to cause a(n)11, I tried to communicate through gestures. I used my hands as best as I could, but she 12 my requests for my bag and pointed to my back. She picked up my bag, showing how 13 it was. I finally began to understand. She was holding my bag to 14 me.

    As the subway 15 the main downtown station and I was getting ready to get off, the woman 16 handed me back my bag. But 17 I had a chance to thank her, she had disappeared into the crowd.

    Sadly, this 18 custom was more surprising to me than pleasing. Everyone back home had heard of being robbed—that was 19 city behavior—but having a stranger hold onto someone's bag out of 20, in a city of twelve million people—that was truly unusual.

    A Tennessee woman celebrated her birthday with a bittersweet gift from beyond the grave ——flowers from her father, who died five years ago.

    Michael William Sellers pre-paid for a bouquet of 1to be delivered to his daughter, Bailey, every 2 until she turned 21. And on Friday, Bailey 3 the gift, her last from her dad.

    "My dad4 when I was 16 from cancer and before he died he pre-paid flowers so I could receive them every year on my birthday," then she said. "This is my 21st birthday flowers and the5."

    Bailey said the special gift made birthdays6."Since that day I've hated my birthday 7he always made it so special," Bailey said "I was especially8 my 21st because I knew it would be the last year."

    Bailey said this year's gift and birthday card were especially 9."I broke down," she said. "That letter was very 10and sad all at the same time."

    "This is my last love letter to," her father11. "I do not want you to drop another 12for me, for I am in a 13 place. He also told her to always respect her mother and stay 14to herself." Be happy and live life to the fullest," he wrote. "I will be with forever, just 15and I will be."

    "That was my dad," she said. "He was trying to make my birthday 16."

Social media users17 the post, calling it both "heartwarming," and "heartbreaking."

    Others praised her father, calling him a(an) "18 of what a good man is like," "He would be very 19," Bailey said "he'd be very proud that it20 a lot of people."