Thanks for Taking Care of Me

    Like most elementary schools, it was typical to have a parade of students in and out of the health clinic throughout the day. As principal, my office was right next door to the clinic, so I often dropped in to lend a hand and 1out with hugs.

    One morning I was putting a Band-Aid on little Mary's bloody knee and I 2 that she was shivering in her thin little shirt. I found her a warm sweater and helped her pull it on. “Thanks for 3me,” she whispered.

    It wasn't long after that when cancer invaded me. I considered whether or not to tell the students about my 4 The word cancer seemed so frightening. When it became evident that the children were going to find out one way or another, I 5to tell them myself. The empathy and 6 I saw in their faces told me I had made the right decision. When I gave them a 7 to ask questions, they 8wanted to know how they could help. I told them that what I would like best would be their letters, pictures and prayers.

    Little Mary threw herself into my arms and looked up into my face. “Don't be afraid, Dr. Perry,” she said earnestly, “It's our 9 to take care of you.”

    No one 10have ever done a better job. The kids sent me a book they had written and a video of every class in the school singing get-well songs. When I would have an operation, the letters and pictures11 coming until they covered every wall of my room. What healing 12 I found in being surrounded by their caring!

    At long last I was13 enough to return to work. As I headed up the road to the school, I was suddenly overcome by 14If the kids have forgotten all about met what should I do?15they don't mint a skinny bald principal? Then I caught sight of the school marquee “Welcome Back, Dr. Perry,” it read. As I16 closer, everywhere I looked were pink ribbons.17flooded over me.

    Little Mary was first in line to 18 me. “Dr. Perry, you're back!” she called. “See, I told you we'd take care of you!”

    What an amazing day! I didn't look for or expect anything in 19 when I helped them, but when they did return the favor, it was an enormous and positive 20

    We came back to the classroom after lunch while our classmates were playing outside.

    “Look at 1 I found in Ms. Lee's office.” Karen, a friend of mine, held up a small box filled with pieces of chalk in every color of the rainbow.

    “Wow! What fun it would be to write on the 2,” Judy's eyes shone with joy. “But Ms. Lee doesn't let us do so,” I responded. “Don't be 3, Janet. No one will ever know,” said Karen, 4 into the box and drawing out some chalk. At first I 5 joined my friends, however, gradually I found it was fun.

    Then it struck Judy that we should6each other to write names with our left hands. Picking up their chalk, they started. I7a white piece...

    “Better get this board cleaned off now,” said Judy, 8what I wrote on the board. Everything came off9my name! I was sweating in10and I felt my knees were getting11. It wasn't chalk at all, but a white piece of crayon(蜡笔). Mom had a 12: “Fools' names and faces always 13 in public.” I never understood 14 what it meant before. Now I did!

    I rushed to the toilet to get a can of cleanser and Judy 15 with paper towels. After rubbing hard, my name was 16, but an abrasion(磨损处) remained on the board.

    Hearing 17 coming, we remove every trace of wetness as 18 as possible. We were just slipping into our desks 19 the teacher walked in. Perhaps Ms. Lee never 20 the abrasion. But I did. I learned that day: “No one will ever know” is never true.

    During the war, my husband was stationed at an army camp in a desert in California. I went to live there in order to be 1 him. I hated the place. I had never 2 been so unhappy. My husband was ordered out on a long-term duty, and I was left in a tiny shack(棚屋) alone. The heat was 3almost 125 ⁰F even in the shade of a cactus(仙人掌). 4 a soul to talk to. The wind blew non-stop, and all the food I ate, and the very air I breathed, were 5 with sand, sand, sand!

I was so sorry for myself that I wrote to my parents. I told them I was 6 and coming back home. I said I couldn't stand it one minute longer. I 7 be in prison! My father answered my 8with just two lines — two lines that will always sing in my 9— two lines that completely changed my life:

    Two men looked out from prison bars,

    One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.

    I read those two lines 10. I was ashamed of myself. I made up my mind I would find out what was good in my present 11; I would look for the stars.

    I made friends with the natives, and their 12 amazed me. They gave me presents of their favorite artworks which they had 13 to sell to tourists. I studied the delightful forms of the cactus. I watched for the desert sunsets, and 14 for seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when the desert had been an ocean 15.

    What brought about this 16 change in me? The desert hadn't changed, 17 I had. I had changed my 18. And by doing so, I changed an unhappy experience into the most amazing 19of my life. I was excited by this new world that I had discovered. I had looked out of my self-created prison and 20 the stars.

In March, 5-year-old Wynn Radke came home from preschool with no idea that she wouldn't return for months because of the COVID-19. Her mom Colleen1her to think of a goal to work toward that involved a(n)2activity. Wynn wasted no time and shouted, “67 waterfalls (瀑布)!” While the number was3, her mom loved the idea so much that she4to help the little one!

The lovely pair's first 5 took place on March 28, 2020 at Fairy Falls, and it was amazing! From there, they 6 hiking to different waterfalls, documenting their progress7they inched closer and closer to their goal.

8, Colleen said the challenge was simply a way to get Wynn outside instead of "just watching YouTube all day." But it ended up being something therapeutic (有益身心健康的) for them to do during the92020 has brought their family. Between Wynn missing her friends and Colleen losing her job, the waterfall10have helped a lot.

It took Wynn and Colleen five months, but they finally11Winnewissa Falls—their 67th waterfall—in August!12reaching her goal, Wynn 13, "I did it!" And she wasn't the only one who was14. When she returned to school, her friends and teachers15 her with celebratory balloons! For her mom, the adventure was less about the milestones (里程碑) and more about the time they spent together.

I remember that it was a fall morning when the orchestra (管弦乐队) teachers came into Miss Newell's third-grade classroom. "You have hands for the viola(中提琴)," Miss Ciano told me. I was excited because my hands were finally good for something. I told my parents I wanted to play, and naturally, they agreed.

Since I first touched the viola, I haven't been able to put it down. Ignoring the difficulty, I am pulled closer to it each day.

Classical music is truly my best friend. It is the trusted friend of every man, woman and child. Various feelings are expressed in classical music. I discovered that when I was eleven and played a cello concerto (大提琴协奏曲) of Bach in a competition, the first movement was joyful, but the second movement was mysterious and full of pain. From the piece, I learned that music expresses not only feelings, but also sudden mood changes. By listening to classical music, I know that someone else shares these feelings. Since I am lucky enough to be able to play classical music, I am comforted by it when I am upset. It gives me a way to escape from my problems for a short period. Classical music can express my joy, sadness and anger.

Now look back at that fall day in the third grade and think how gullible I was for believing that anyone, even music teachers, could tell whether hands were perfect for a certain instrument. I'm certain they told me I had " viola hands" not because they were fortune-tellers(算命师), but because there was a lack of violists in our district. Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way, it will become your friend for life.

In 2009, Kevin Pearce was at the height of his professional snowboarding career and bound for the Winter Olympics. But in an instant, it came to an end. During training, he struck his head on the edge of a pipe, resulting in a traumatic (创伤的) brain injury. It changed the course of the then-22-year-old's life.

He had to relearn how to walk and talk and essentially start over. His older brother Adam quit his job and moved across the country to help him through rehab.

He eventually started doing yoga, and his family saw how it transformed him and gave him a sense of hope: "It was the first time I remember so clearly coming out of a class with him and just seeing in his face this new expression, this new person." Adam Pearce said, "We were like, ‘We need to figure out why and how that just happened.'"

Wanting to bring hope and healing to others through yoga and meditation (冥想). Adain and Kevin co-founded the Love YourBrain Foundation in 2014. The nonprofit offers week-long meditations and community-based yoga classes across the United States for people who are living with long-term brain-related disabilities. "I think people feel isolated after brain injury because they don't feel able, and when you don't feel able, you generally retreat back inside." Adam said, "At these retreats, people are given the space to lean into those deep challenges and express them and talk about them."

Ultimately, the organization aims to create a safe space and supportive community where people with brain-related disabilities can heal together. "Connection happens quickly because there's such a shared common understanding among the group." Adam said. "Once someone sees someone be vulnerable, it instantly allows the next person (to be). By the end, people start to see vulnerability as a superpower."