When my oldest son was in high school, he planned to1 a Christian contemporary concert with the youth group from our church. To my 2 Aaron invited me to go along. I3 accepted; however, by the time the date of the concert arrived, my youngest son had been ill, and I was4 about him. I hesitated (犹豫). Then my husband5 me to attend the concert, promising he would take care of our youngest.

    Finally, the6 was made. Aaron was sixteen years old. How many 7 would I have to do something fun with him8he went away to college? And how many youths actually would 9 their mothers to attend a concert with them that was clearly for teens? I would not miss this opportunity.

At the concert, I 10with Aaron in the third row, putting cotton in my ears to block out the 11 ear-splitting music of the first performer. I stood when the kids stood, clapped when they 12 and never let anyone know how13 I was to feel the floor shaking beneath my feet. Aaron and his friends were 14at my enthusiasm (激情).

    By the time we left the concert, my ears were ringing, but it quickly passed.15 did my son's teenage years.16he was in college and away from home. I missed him more than I could say. Whenever I felt17 I would think back to the concert we attended and be thankful once again that I didn't 18an opportunity to spend time with my son.

    Aaron is now grown and has a family of his own, but he often calls just to 19and tell me about his day. I drop everything and 20the moment.

Eating the Cookie

    One of my patients, a successful businessman, tells me that before his cancer he would become depressed unless things went a certain way1was “having the cookie”. If you had the cookie, things were good. If you didn't have the cookie, life was 2.

    Unfortunately, the cookie kept3.Some of the time it was money, and sometimes power. At4time, it was the new car, the biggest contract. A year and a half after his diagnosis(诊断) of prostate cancer, he sits5his head regretfully. “It seems that I stopped learning how to6 after I was a kid. When I give my son a cookie, he is happy. If I take the cookie away or it7he is unhappy. But he is two and a half and I am forty three. It's taken me this long to understand that the8 will never make me happy for long.

    The9you have the cookie it starts to fall to pieces or you start to 10about it crumbling (弄碎) or about someone trying to take it away from you. You know, you have to11a lot of things to take care of the cookie, to keep it from crumbling and be12that no one takes it away from you. You may not even get a chance to eat it13 you are so busy just trying not to lose it14 the cookie is not what life is about.”

    My patient laughs and says15has changed him. For the first time he is16.No matter if his17is doing well or not, no matter if he wins or loses at golf. “Two years ago, cancer18me, 'What is really important?' Well, life is important. Live any way you can have it, life with the cookie, life without the cookie. Happiness does not have anything to19with the cookie: it has to do with being 20.

    My son Joey was born with club feet(天生特厚的畸形脚). The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk1, but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were2in surgery(手术). By the time he was eight, you wouldn't know he had a 3when you saw him walk.

    The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during4, and Joey would jump right in, run and play, too. We5told him that he probably wouldn't be able to 6 as well as the other children. So he didn't know.

    In seventh grade he7to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he 8 with the team. He worked harder and ran9 than any of the others—perhaps he sensed that the10that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him.11the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the potential to12points for the school. We didn't tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn't know.

    He13to run four to five miles a day, every day —even the day he had a 103-degree fever. I was14, so I went to look for him after school. I found him 15all alone. I asked him how he felt. “Okay,” he said. He had two more16to go. The sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever.17he looked straight ahead and kept running.

    Two weeks later, the names of the team runners were18. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in19grade —the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn't20to make the team. We never told him he couldn't do it… so he didn't know. He just did it.

    One day, a poor boy who was trying to pay his schooling by selling goods from door to door found that he only had one dime left. He was hungry so he decided to 1 for a meal at the next house.

    However, he lost his nerve 2 a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked 3so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it 4, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

    “You don't owe me anything,” she 5. “Mother has taught me never to accept pay for a 6” He said, “Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger 7, but it also increased his faith in God and human race. He was about to give up and quit before this point.

    Years later the young woman became seriously ill. The local doctors were confused. They finally sent her to the big city, where specialists can be called in to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly，now 8, was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light 9 his eyes. Immediately, he 10 and went down through the hospital hall into her room. 11 in his doctor s gown he went in to see her. He 12 her at once. He went back to the consultation room and 13 to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave 14 attention to her case.

    After a long 15 the battle was won. Dr. Kelly 16 the business office to pass the final bill to him for 17.

    He looked at it and then wrote something on the side. The bill was sent to her room. She was afraid to open it because she was negative that it would take the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally she looked, and the note on the side of the bill caught her 18. She read these words...

“Paid in full with a glass of 19.” (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.

    Tears of joy flooded her eyes as she 20 silently. “Thank you, God. Your love has spread through human hearts and hands.”

    My l4-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat which was hanging at a secondhand clothing store in Northampton Mass. While the other coats drooped(低垂), this one looked as if it were1itself up. The coat had beautiful tailoring, a Fifth Avenue label and a(an)2price of $28, which was popular just then with3, but could cost several hundred dollars new. This coat was even better, bearing that4of classic elegance(优雅). John tried it on and the fit was perfect.

    John5the coat to school the next day and came home wearing a big smile" Did the kids like your coat?" I asked. "They loved it," he said,6folding it over the back of a chair and smoothing it flat. Over the next few weeks, a7came over John. Agreement replaced contrariness (作对) and reasoned discussion replaced fierce8. He became more mannerly and9, eager to please. He would generously loan his younger brother his tapes and lecture him10his behavior.

    When I mentioned this incident to his teacher and11what caused the changes, she said laughing. "It12be his coat!" Another teacher told him she was giving him a good13not only because he had earned14but because she liked his coat. At the library, we ran into a friend "Could this be John?" he asked surprisingly,15John's new height, assessing the cut of his coat and extending his hand, one gentleman to another.

    John and I both know we should never16a person's clothes for the real person within them.17there is something to be said for wearing a standard of excellence for the world to see and for18what is on the inside to what is on the outside.

    For John it is a time when it is as easy to try on different approaches to19as it is to try on a coat. The whole world, the whole future is stretched out ahead, a vast landscape20all the doors are open. And he could picture himself walking through those doors wearing his wonderful, magical coat.

"I was born for soccer, just as Beethoven was born for music. " These words are exactly from Pele. He is considered the greatest soccer player who has had a huge influence on the 1 world. His great 2 are not the only reason why he is my hero, though. He is also very kind.

When I play soccer, I often think of Pele, and then I will become very 3. I like 4 videos of his games because I can learn from all his moves. I 5 his skills and want to be like him one day. He started playing soccer when he was very young and 6 his professional career at age 14. He had surprising speed and skills in ball 7 and seemed to be able to make the ball do as he wanted.

I dream of breaking Pele's records one day. He 8 the record of scoring (得分) the most goals in a career:1,283. When he was 17, he was the 9 scorer in a World Cup Final. Pele is the only 10 to have been in three World Cup winning teams (1958, 1962 and 1970) and was named "South American Player of the Year" in 1973. Every time the ball was at his feet, some surprising, record­breaking feat (壮举) was 11 to be made by Pele.

Pele is also famous for his 12 for others. He is a 13 person and gives money to organizations that 14 children around the world and social services in Brazil. 15 ， he is also a member of many charity fund raisers. When he travels, he 16 goes out of his way to help children.

Heroes are people we admire and want to 17. Ney Blanco de Oliveira, Pele's personal friend for more than 40 years, 18 Pele: "My friend Pele is not only the19 soccer player in the world, but also one of the kindest human beings that I have ever known." These are also the reasons why Pele is my 20.