The Best Nutrition of Life

    A little boy always thought himself unfortunate because of his disability. He 1 played with his classmates. When the teacher asked him to answer questions, he always 2 his head without a word.

    One spring, the boy's father asked his children 3 to plant a young tree. “Whose tree grows best, I will buy him or her a favorite gift.” The boy wanted to have a try. But seeing his brothers and sisters watering the trees 4, anyhow, he 5 an idea: he hoped his tree would 6 soon. After watering it once, he never 7 it.

    A few days later, when he 8 his tree again, he was 9 to find it grew some fresh leaves 10 that compared with other trees, his appeared 11. His father bought him his favorite 12 and said that from the tree he planted, he would become an outstanding botanist（植物学家）.

    From then on, the little boy slowly became 13. One night, enjoying the bright moon-light, he went to see the tree. When he came to the courtyard quietly, he found his 14 was watering his tree with a ladle（长柄构）. 15 he understood: his father had been 16 fertilizing his small tree! He returned to his room, tears 17 in his eyes.

    Decades passed. The little boy didn't become a 18 as expected, but he was 19 President of the Untied States. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.

    20 is the best nutrition of life. Even it means a ladle of water, a thin and small tree can grow into a towering tree.

The sandwich man

    Michael rises every morning at 4:00, in good and bad weather, and walks into his sandwich shop. By 5:50, he's making the rounds of the shelters on Centre Streets. He 1 out 200 sandwiches to the homeless, before beginning his workday.

    It started 20 years ago when Michael came across a homeless man named John. He began to help him 2 effort then. Day after day, he brought John some food and, when it was really 3, a resting place in his car while he worked. Once he asked John if he wanted to get cleaned up. It was a(n) 4 offer, because Michael thought John would refuse. 5, John said, "Are you going to wash me?" Michael knew that he was looking at a 6 of his promise. It was at the moment that Michael 7 to help the homeless.

    Michael began his work. He received no sponsorship, saying, "I'm not getting media 8. I just want to do some good in my way. There are days when it's snowing, and I have a hard time leaving my warm bed and the 9 of my family to go downtown with sandwiches. But I've 10."

    Michael makes 200 sandwiches every day for the past 20 years. "I don't simply 11 the sandwiches on a table for the homeless to pick up. I shake their hands and 12 them a good day," says Michael. Once Mayor (市长) Koch came to make the rounds with him. They 13 the media, and it seemed like it was just the two of them. But of all Michael's 14, working side by side with the Mayor was not as important as working next to someone else…

    A man had 15 from the sandwich takers, and Michael thought about him from time to time. He hoped the man had moved on to a more 16 environment. One day, the man came back, greeting Michael and 17 sandwiches of his own to hand out. He said Michael's daily food, warm handshakes and wishes had given him the 18 he badly needed. After achieving some success, he decided to do the same thing as Michael.

    The moment needed no 19. The two men worked silently, side by side, handing out their sandwiches. It was another day on Centre Streets, but a day with just a little more 20.

    A few years after Dad died, my 82-year-old mom moved away from the family farm near Almonte into her first apartment, which meant 1 for her to go for groceries. We were also 2 that she was living alone and hoped this 3 would really widen her social 4.

    As she and I 5 her belongings, Mom shared with me all kinds of 6 about her and my father's life together. Then we drove to town, 7 the unwanted items at Almonte's secondhand store, where they could be 8 and the money would go to charity.

    A local gentleman, who had 9 one of Mom's old suitcases, found a black-and-white negative (底片) in an envelope, with the word "Daddy" 10 in pencil on the front. Knowing that this film certainly 11 something to someone, he took it to the Almonte Gazette, attempting to find its rightful 12 through the paper.

    A week later, a big photo of my father appeared in our local paper, with a story to 13 it. Readers responded immediately; they 14 "Daddy" well — it was their uncle, brother-in-law, neighbor, friend, favorite bus driver…

    So Mom and I went to the Gazette right away to 15 our film. We thanked the staff and also called the 16 to express our heart-felt gratitude for 17 Mom, Daddy and me.

    What a(n) 18 act! It meant the world to us. Mom eventually moved into a nursing home. She passed away in November, 2018, at 98, and until then 19 a day went by that she did not look at, in her words, "that famous 20 of Daddy," on her bedside table.

It was a long time since I had seen my parents last time. Last Saturday I drove a long way to visit them, 1neither of them was at home. So I waited patiently at their home 2their return. Not seeing them made me really3.

As I was walking around their bedroom, I 4 little reminders of them. Some

Christmas gifts were still 5in boxes. There were 6on the wall, which I guess must have a 7 meaning to them. What 8 was seeing my dad's emblems (徽章) from his military service of our country when he was young. My father never 9to us about the Korean Wars. As I looked at those emblems hanging 10 with all the photos that he treasures, I 11 that this was an important part of his life, but I never spent 12in talking with him about them. The photos of my mom with her close 13made me realize her life before she was my mom. I had been so 14running my business to raise my own family that I 15the chance to know about their past and experience.

We sometimes don't realize something is 16for us until we have lost it, so it's not too late for us to talk to our parents about their past. I am writing my story to 17 everyone who is fortunate to still have their parents 18to invest some time to learn about them. I am grateful to have 19of my parents. So I still have time to talk with them. I hope that readers will 20from my story and find the time to talk about those things in their life that mean so much to their parents.

Karen Loewe has been teaching seventh and eighth grade students for 22 years, 1 her most recent day was apparently the most 2 day of her educational career — she tried a new activity with her students in her class.

3establishing that her classroom was a safe space for 4, she asked her students to write about some emotional problems. Since they weren't required to put their names on the paper, they could describe their issues as 5as they wanted. The youngsters were then asked to take turns 6 what their classmates wrote, and all of them were given the opportunity to identify (表明）themselves as the person 7 for the writing. "Things like being left by their parents, death and  8 pets were written down. The kids who heard the. stories would cry because what they were hearing was 9 It was a difficult day, but I believe my kids will judge a little less, 10 a little more, and forgive a little faster," Loewe said.

Since she wrote about her 11 on social media, her post has been shared more than 500,000 times. 12 from all over the world have reached out to her about using similar activities in their own classrooms and her students have learned to 13 other people. "They don't casually 14 or talk down to each other anymore," she said. "They're not rude. It has completely 15 how they treat each other. I wish I would have done this years ago."

Juleus Ghunta is a published children's author and award-winning poet. But when young, he could 1 read.

He grew up with his three sisters in rural Western Jamaica, raised by their single mother. Life was tough, and proper schooling was out of the question due to 2 resources.

When Ghunta finally went to school, he couldn't 3 on reading. Not only had he been kept home from school as a child, but he had not been 4 to books.

By sixth grade, he could spell his name, but still couldn't make out words or read with 5 . He struggled in school with a deep sense of 6 and worthlessness.

At age 12, a young teacher-in-training 7 a special reading program for 8 students. Ghunta was the first to join. That teacher, whose name he does not 9 now, became Ghunta's unsung hero — the person who changed his life.

The teacher was incredibly kind to him. Under her guidance, Ghunta's reading skills saw marked improvement, and his sense of inadequacy began to 10 .

"She had left me with the gift of literacy," he said. "And a deeper 11 of my talent."

After Ghunta's experience with the teacher, his life course 12 . He graduated with academic 13 and is now the author of two children's books, including "Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows."

Years later, Ghunta returned to his old school and asked the principal and teachers if they knew her 14 , but none did. Carrying this memory, however, he still hopes to find and thank her for seeing his 15 and being a source of light and hope in his life.