On August 26,1999,New York City experienced a torrential downpour.The rain caused the streets to1and the subway system almost came to a stop.

    Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour.Many people who were going to work were2to go home.Some battled to3a taxi or to get on a bus.Still others faced the4bravely,walking miles to get to work.

    I 5 to be one of the people on the way to work that morning.I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most6had stopped.After making my way7crowds of people,I finally found a subway line that was 8.Unfortunately,there were so many people waiting to9the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the10.So I took the train going in the opposite direction,and then switch back to the downtown train.Finally,after what seemed like an forever,the train11my stop.Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office,I was12through,exhausted and13.

    My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off.When it was 5:00 pm,I was ready to go home.I was about to turn off my computer14I received an email from Garth,my Director:

    I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and15reported to work.It is always reassuring（今人欣慰）,at times like these,when employees so clearly show their16to their jobs.Thank you.

    Garth's email was short, but I learned more from that17message than I ever did from a textbook.The email taught me that a few words of18can make a big difference.The rainstorm and the traffic19had made me tired and upset.But Garth's words immediately20me and put a smile back on my face.

    I do not know why I came to the decision to become a loser, but I know I made the choice at a young age. Sometime in the middle of fourth grade, I stopped 1. By the time I was in seventh grade, I was your2degenerate (颓废): lazy, rebellious, and disrespectful. I had lost all social 3 I terminally (不可救药的) followed, what was fashionable.

    Not long after that, I dropped out of school and 4 my downward spiral. Hard physical labor was the5for the choices I made as an adolescent. At the age of twenty-one, I was6 lost and using drugs as a way to deal with the fact that I was uneducated and7 in a dead-end job carrying roof materials up a ladder all day.

    But now I believe in do-overs, in the8 to do it all again. And I believe that do-overs can be made at any point in your life, if you have the right 9 Mine came from a10source.

    It was September 21, 2002, when my son Blake was born. It's funny that after a life of 11responsibility, now I was in charge of something so 12Over the years, as I grew into the title of Dad, I began to learn something about myself13 Blake and I were both learning to walk, talk, work, and play for the first time. I began my do-over.

    It took me almost three years to learn 14to read. I started with my son's books. Over and over, I practiced reading books to him15 I remembered all the words in every one of them. I began to wonder if it was possible for me to go back to school. I knew I wanted to be a good role model,16 after a year-and-a-half and a lot of hard work, I passed my GED test on my son's fourth birthday. This may not sound like 17and I am not trying to get praise for doing something that should have been done in the first place, but all things considered it was one of the18days in my life. Today, I am a full-time college student, studying to become a sociologist.

    Growing up, I19 heard these great turn-around stories of triumph over shortcomings. But I never thought they applied to me. Now I believe it is a (an)20anyone can make: To do it all over again.

    After my brother died in an accident, my mother was very sad. I was only 4 years old at the time, but I still understood the 1 in my mom's attitude toward safety.2, everything around us was potentially 3.

    I grew up with a lot of 4 and rules that were meant to 5 me. For example, I was not 6 to walk home from school by myself, even though everyone I knew already did. I couldn't 7 evening parties or go to summer camp,8 what if something happened to me?

    As I got older, the list of things to 9 got longer. I became a natural 10. I was concerned about things like getting cancer, losing my wallet, being caught in car accidents and earthquakes —11 big and small, real and 12.The funny part is that you'd never know it by looking at my life, because I'm constantly 13 myself to do the things that frighten or worry me. In fact, I've developed a 14 for myself: If it scares me, then I have to do it 15 once. I've done lots of things that would have 16 my mom: I've ridden a motorcycle, I've traveled alone, and I've performed stand-up comedy.

    Courage isn't a natural attribute (品质) of human beings. I believe that we have to practice being courageous. The more 17 I do things that scare me or that make me 18, the more I realize that I can do a lot more than I originally thought I could do.

    Even though I inherited (经遗传获得) my mother's cautious19, I've also come to believe that fear can be a good thing, if we 20 it. Believing that has made my world a less scary place.

    Medical bills were piling, kids needed glasses, cars needed repairs and the dog needed surgery. On top of that, Christmas was almost 1 us so presents needed to be purchased.

    But all of that was 2 when my husband, Brian, was waiting in our local tire shop to have his six truck tires 3 on a snowy night, He overheard the tire salesman 4 a young mom with 3 children that she was in urgent 5 of all new tires, as each one was completely 6 down.7, the young mom said she didn't have the money to replace more than one tire on her car.

    On hearing that, Brian 8 to pay for a tire to be installed,9 of the one tire this woman was able to purchase. Brian knew that even though it was just a start, the young mom would be much 10 driving on the 11 roads with a balanced set of two new tires than they would with just one new tire.

    The young mom was so surprised that she12 choked up. Eyes filled with tears, she thanked Brian and pulled away.

    My husband is a naturally modest13 man who feels rewarded in giving rather than14 in life. So imagine his unexpected15, when he later discovered the salesman had 16 the entire amount spent on the woman's one17 tire to his bill!18 the seven tires my husband bought, the salesman only 19 him for six.

    The simple act of one man making the decision to share what he had, instead of worrying about what he would 20, made a difference that night.

    Barry White, Jt., a fifth grade English teacher at Ashley Park PreK­8 School, has a personalized handshake as greetings with every one of his students every day.

    The students know that when they 1 the school gate we do our 'good mornings' and then it's time to 2 " White told ABC News of his enthusiastic 3. "I'm always pumped up 4 . we start doing the moves, which brings them 5 and cheers them up for a high­energy 6."

    Each handshake is different, using custom moves inspired by the student's personality.

    "I started with one simple handshake last year with one of my 7 graders," he explained. "The girl of fourth grade would 8 me every morning before she'd go to class. She'd get in trouble sometimes for being late because she'd wait on the 9."

    "This year I started 10 handshakes with the kids during class breaks. It was just one or two students and then it became contagious (有感染力的) , he 11 ." I saw how much it 12 to them, so I said, Come on, everyone! Come on! Then it was my 13 class, then it was kids from other classes. Now I have third graders wanting to do it too.

    His administration loves the 14 which White brings to his students each day. "Barry's handshakes 15 his own authentic building relationships with 16 . When I walk into my teachers' rooms, I see the 17 of those strong and trusting relationships. When kids know their teacher 18, they are attentive, engaged and driven to be 19. That's the culture we are 20," said principal (校长) Meaghan Loftus.

The reopening of an Asian American-owned bookstore in Manhattan's Chinatown following a January fire has received a warm welcome back from its supporters.

Yu &. Me Books, which is regarded as the first female-owned Asian American bookshop in New York City, has raised more than $369,000 for repairs since a tragic fire on January 4. It reopened on Wednesday. "We are so excited to welcome you all back to our Yu &. Me Books home," the store announced on Instagram. "We can't wait to shed tears, laugh loudly and open our hearts with all of you who have made us feel at home."

The fire in an apartment above the bookstore on Mulberry Street killed one of the building's residents. Smoke and water damage also devastated Yu & Me Books, destroying almost all its inventory and equipment, according to a GoFundMe campaign that store owner Lucy Yu set up to make up for the costs.

During the restoration and renovation (翻新) of the original bookstore, the business operated from a location within The Market Line, an underground marketplace on the Lower East Side, and several pop-up shops (临时店铺) in the city.

"It was a bookstore I always wanted to visit, and I'm so happy that they were able to reopen," Charlotte Leinbach, a teacher for New York City's Education Department said. Leinbach hadn't been to the bookstore before the fire, but she had heard quite a bit about its fate. She bought two books, the second and third in the series Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

"It's hard to find a lot of books written in Japanese, and then translated into English," she said. "The design of the bookstore is really nice, and the layout is great. I am glad that they also sell used books. I love buying new books because it's fresh and it's nice, but it's always nice to see people in the community giving their books back and reselling and just passing them on." She said she will continue to support the women-run small businesses that focus on people and authors of color.

"I actually came on the day of the opening, but there were too many people, and it was too crowded, so I just haven't had a chance to look at it," Liam Li, another Asian American, said. "This place is unique. It's in Chinatown. As Asians live in New York City, I feel this offers the most space for the community. I understand like a minority in this society, it is not easy to have a store like this," she added.