It was a very cold Thursday. When I observed the1falling onto my car, I really began to wonder if I was going to2it on time. Of course I must, because I have no3

    About two weeks ago, what my4Ellen had talked about was her Christmas concert to be held in her school and some rumors about it. “Mom, Rachel was5to sing alone, but she's not! Linda will replace her to do it.” “Mom, you won't believe it,6Lexie's whole family is coming to the concert, even from another7” Making a long way out of state to see third graders sing Christmas carols seemed to be a pretty big deal(待遇) for her.

    When I sat in traffic, I thought about all the school8I had attended alone. Ellen never mentioned it, but I wonder9she felt about me being the only one who ever came to her events. My own family lived out of town, and her father and his family10quite succeeded in fitting those things into their schedules, I11if it bothered her.

    At eight o'clock the12was scheduled to begin. With only a few minutes to13 I found myself running: first, through the snow-drifted parking lot, then through the school passage. I entered the14hall and found a vacant seat near the front. From her place onstage, Ellen saw me15for the chair, and she smiled. I was16enough to hear the loud conversation of the children onstage.

    “Look, Ellen, there is my uncle and my cousin. They came all the way from West Virginia. I can't believe my whole family is here!” Ellen17at Lexie and said, “My whole family is here, too! Look, there she is!” Ellen gave me a big smile. I smiled back at her, never once18the melting snow dripping off my head. It19occurred to me that while we tried to teach our children all about20 they actually taught us what life was all about.

    In 1895, when he was 52, my grandpa, Dennis Fitzpatrick Sr. , had a young man's dream. He1 to own land and build a barn(谷仓) and house on it. In order to2 the dream, he left Hubbardston, Michigan and went to north to Slabtown. In the place, there was 80-acre wasted land with 3 fence(篱笆) and big bushes everywhere. Grandpa walked around the land, dreaming of the day when he would 4it into green meadow(牧场). where there are fields of crops, wandering 5, a big barn and a new house.

    He 6 there and started working. In the summer, a 4-acre field 7 a lot of crops and in the fall, he started working on a new8, carrying stones from a mile away. After the bam completed, a new house was started. By the age of 82, his dream had 9 30 years after he started.

    But by the 1990s the barn was in bad need of 10 or it would fall apart. So we worked to make it as strong as before. During the past years, it had 11 family, gathering, wedding reception, neighborhood parties 12 music and dancing, Christmas ball and more.

    Grandpa is gone now, but his 13 is still with us. Now I, his great-grandson, 14 the land that he cleared. All seven of my 15 live on or within a mile of the farm. Grandpa's dream so long ago—green meadow, fields of crops and a big barn—is now 16by his many descendants(子孙) more than a17later.

    Grandpa taught us very 18 lessons. It is never too late to 19 If you have one, work at it 20and you'll turn it into reality.

    When a homeless man named Marcus wandered into Abigail's Cafe asking for spare change, he didn't get turned away. Looking at the man, the owner Abigail asked, "Why don't you have a1？ You know nothing is given to me for free？"Marcus2that he had "a lot of crimes". Because of his3, no one wanted to hire him, so he had made money the only way he knew how："4or asking for money."

    Although the young owner had hit some hard times for her cafe, Abigail was5of hands that day and then decided to6Marcus the task of washing dishes. "His7opened wide and his smile made my8！"She wrote on Facebook.

    "He said he would do9for some food." For the past two weeks, Marcus has been on time every day for his10of working for two hours when he washes dishes. He uses the money he11to buy his own food at the restaurant, 12to take it for free.

    "A lot of people are saying that I've been a blessing for him13, at that point I was the one who needed a blessing," Abigail told CBS News. Her post has earned a lot of attention with plenty of14on the Internet. Because many people have asked15they can help people like Marcus, she16a Go Fund Me page with a modest goal of $1, 000."The hope, "she said, "is to create more hours and opportunities for him17others in the community."

    Abigail said she shared the story, hoping that people might be moved to help a18, too. "Do something nice for whoever may not be familiar to us and don't19them just because they go out there asking for money, for we don't know their real20, " she said in her post. "They deserve another chance."

    When most of us get a text message on our cell phone from an unknown person, we usually say "sorry, 1 number!" and move on. But when Dennis Williams 2 a text that clearly wasn't intended for him, he did something 3.

    On March 19, Dennis got a group text 4 him that a couple he didn't know were at the hospital, waiting for the 5 of a baby.

    "Congratulations! But I think someone was mistaken," Dennis 6. The baby was born and update texts were 7 quickly from the overjoyed grandmother, Teresa. In her 8, she didn't seem to realize that she was 9 the baby's photos with a complete stranger. "Well, I don't 10 you all but I will get there to take pictures with the baby," replied Dennis before asking which room the new 11 were in.

    Much to the family's surprise, Dennis stuck to his 12! He turned up at the hospital 13 gifts for the new mother Lindsey and her baby boy. Lindsey's husband was totally 14 by the unexpected visit. "I don't think we would have randomly invited him over but we 15 it and the gifts."

    Teresa 16 a photo of the chance meeting on a social networking website 17 by the touching words: "What a 18 this young man was to our family! He was so 19 and kind to do this." The post has since gained the 20 of social media users all over the world, receiving more than 184,000 shares and 61,500 likes in just three days.

    During my second year at the city college, I was told that the education department was offering a "free" course, called Thinking Chess, for three credits. I 1the idea of taking the class because, after all, who doesn't want to 2 a few dollars? More than that, I'd always wanted to learn chess. And, even if I weren't 3enough about free credits, news about our 4was appealing enough to me. He was an international grandmaster, which 5 I would be learning from one of the game's 6. I could hardly wait to 7him.

    Maurice Ashley was kind and smart, a former graduate returning to teach, and this 8was no game for him: he meant business. In his introduction, he made it 9that our credits would be hard-earned. In order to 10the class, among other criteria, we had to write a paper on how we plan to 11what we would learn in class to our future professions and, 12, to our lives. I managed to get an A in that 13and learned life lessons that have served me well beyond the 14.

    Ten years after my chess class with Ashley, I'm still putting to use what he 15me: “The absolute most important 16that you learn when you play chess is how to make good 17. On every single move you have to 18a situation, process what your opponent(对手）is doing and 19the best move from among all your options." These words still ring true today in my 20as a journalist.

If you had to choose one word to describe Kevin,it might be "slow".He didn't learn his ABCs as fast as other kids.He never came first in the schoolyard races.However,his smile was bright and he showed great interest in everything.So when he discovered that Randy was putting together a boy's basketball team,Kevin immediately joined.

At practice,Kevin worked so hard that you'd have thought he was preparing for the NBA.And the whole team truly loved basketball.But just loving the game doesn't help you win.They lost every game that season by a very large margin(差距),except one...that night it snowed and the other team couldn't make it to the game.

At the end of the season,the boys unfortunately played against the first-place team.The game went pretty much as expected,and near the middle of the fourth quarter Kevin's team stood nearly 30 points behind.At that point,one of Kevin's teammates called time-out."Coach,this is our last game but Kevin has never made a basket.We should let him try," said the boy.With the game completely out of reach,the idea seemed reasonable.So every time Kevin's team had the ball,they would give it to Kevin.His first shot missed and he missed another shot again.This continued a few more times until the player from the other team grew wise.Instead of running off down the court,he threw the ball to Kevin who shot...and missed again.

Soon,all the players were circling Kevin,throwing the ball to him.The whole gymnasium thundered with the clapping,chanting,"Kevin!Kevin!" Finally,after amounts of tries,the ball went in.Kevin's arms shot high into the air and he shouted,"I won!I won!" The first-place team remained unbeaten,but on that evening,everyone left the game truly feeling like a winner.