There Really Was a Santa Claus

    Ann worked for a big company. One of the duties of her job was to go to the 1 every day and picked up the company mail. One day in 2, she saw a beggar 3 himself up as a Santa Claus standing on the corner of the street. Each day she saved her 4  and dropped them in his bowl. He would 5 and wish her a Merry Christmas.

    At night the temperature 6 below 0℃, but the Santa Clause 7stood in the cold wind. After she dropped her coins into his bowl, she handed him a pair of  8.

    A week later, a new 9 was standing there. "What happened to the other Santa Claus?" she asked. He told her, "He's very sick today." She prayed for his 10.

    Later that day, a 11 came into her office in tears. "I don't know 12 I'm going to do." "What's wrong?" she asked. "It's my ex-husband," her colleague continued. "I don't have any money to buy my boys anything for Christmas, 13 my ex-husband refuses to send money to them. It breaks my heart that they won't have anything this year." The lady 14 her colleague, "I'm sure everything will 15. It's Christmas. Believe in miracles(奇迹)."

    That evening, she told her husband about her colleague's 16, "I know we don't have much money to help, but I'd like to 17 her fifty or a hundred dollars. We'll just get 18 less this year. Last year we couldn't afford to buy anything for ourselves but we still had a 19 Christmas." Her husband smiled, "Give her one hundred dollars. She needs it more than we do."

    She reached up and held him. Warmth spread through her body. He held her and realized that there 20 was a Santa Claus – and he had married her!

    It was a bright sunny day, and the terrible experience happened when I was studying in Bangalore. One day, I got a call from my mom that my brother's 1 was fixed and they were arranging the wedding ceremony in the next few days. My 2 was pretty far. So the next thing I was 3 to do was to book my 4 ticket as there was no direct flight to my hometown. The 5 was done by an agent in my neighborhood. I paid the whole amount 6But when the day approached the 7 disappeared，leaving me without the train ticket, and thus 8 all my travel plan.

    But as it is said, once you face such 9 situations, you realize your inner strength. I 10 decided I would complete my whole journey by bus. Without further 11, I took a bus to the first city stop. The next bus was again not 12 —it was 8 hours to a city near my hometown, where my aunt lived. They were also going to 13 my brother's wedding ceremony. So I called them and 14 them to accommodate me. They15. Half the battle was won.

    Then next day, I was just a few hours from my hometown. When my aunts family and I were boarding our car, my 16 asked me to switch places with her.

    The journey continued. We were trying to overtake(超越) another car when 17 a truck appeared in front of us and we went directly head on in front of it. We 18with the truck. In this accident, almost everyone in our car was 19. Fortunately, I didn't have any injury, 20 my cousin who switched places with me was seriously injured!

    Don't Be Afraid to Make a Fool of Yourself and Reach out to Strangers

    Growing up, I was glued to my mother's hip, ready to follow her wherever the world took us. I used to sleep at her 1 on the floor of her law school lecture halls while hundreds of 2 poured over scores of legal terms and historical court 3. When my mother and I would travel to different countries together, she always talked to 4 . She would tell our life story and I was often 5. I figured that people thought she shared too much and it was 6.

    I now recognize the importance of the 7 my mother made. After she died, I received hundreds of phone calls from people all over the world. They 8 to offer their condolences (吊唁), but 9 to share how much my mother had meant to them.10 she offered legal advice or simply shared a story, they11their heart to me about how she 12 their lives.

    When she first decided to buy an apartment and settled down in Paris, she 13 the writers of her favourite blogs and instantly began to form their own French14. They spent hours eating carefully selected cheeses and sipping (啜饮) coffee while 15 favorite Parisian restaurants. These are the people I now call my 16 aunts and uncles.

    What I judged as my mom making a 17 of herself was her way of sharing her 18 and charm. This taught me to 19 into fear and not to let self-criticism govern anything I do. Now, I speak up. I talk to strangers. I 20 myself and because of it, I receive.

    My 7-year-old daughter always has her nose in a book. She even continued 1 in the car on the long drive to summer camp, where she lost the book. This is the first lost 2 book in my life. In my childhood, my family had always been expected to be 3, but we were poor, and I didn't 4 books. I had to borrow books. My library books lived on a 5 shelf while they were mine, and it 6 me when I had to return them to the library on the due day.

    However, my daughter has 7 books now than I owned my whole childhood. So it's probably my 8 that she didn't cherish the books. “Sorry. I can't find it.” My daughter said with a shrug, “we just pay $20 for the book. What's the big9?” The missing library book just met with a cold 10 from her, but it met with nail-biting 11 from me. I walked into the library in a deep 12 as if I had lost the book.

    Feeling the need to make her feel 13 for the book, I asked her to do the chores. She agreed to clean up all the pets' houses 14 my paying the library book. I'd meant the chore to be 15!

    Surprisingly, she was enjoying herself. I took a picture of her lovely back. So, was I winning or losing at 16? Did I teach her the 17 of keeping a library book if the picture I took shows she is working 18?

    To my 19, my little girl knew what 20 in her life. She could devote herself to the chores as much as books.

My childhood memories involve sitting with my dad in his study every night. When he came home from work, he would put his 1items away: his watch, wallet, comb and car keys which would always 2the same spot on the table.

Dad's 3was jade green. He bought it when he married Mum, which made it two years older than I was. Every night, he would smile, and hand me the comb: "Be a good girl and help Daddy 4it, OK?"

I would excitedly turn the tap on, and brush it with a used toothbrush. When I 5returned it to Dad, he would smile at me, and place it on top of his wallet.

Two years later, I started primary school. That was6Dad's business wasn't doing so well, He didn't come home as 7as he used to, and when he did, it was always late and I'd already be in bed. So the uncomfortable silence between Dad and me 8.

Now 28, I've 9from college and got a job. One day last year, Dad came home early. I helped him carry his bags into his10. When I turned to leave, he said: "Hey, would you like to help me clean my comb? It's been a while since I 11cleaned it." I looked at him a while, then took the comb, and headed to the sink. It hit me then: why, as a child, helping my dad clean his comb was such a joy. That routine meant that my dad was home early to spend the evening with Mum and me. It meant a happy and loving family. With 12in my eyes, I brushed it with an old toothbrush.

When I 13the clean comb back to him, Dad looked at it, smiling, and then carefully put it on his wallet. But this time, I had noticed something different: Dad has 14. He has wrinkles next to his eyes when he smiles, yet his smile is still as 15as before.

Each morning at 6 a.m., Kamaljeet Singh, 57, is up and out of the house. He starts by spending three hours helping 1 food to nearly two dozen drop-off locations across Delhi, India, then 2 the numerous facilities run by the volunteer organization he leads with his brother, Premjit. The organization, Veerji Ka Dera, was founded in 1989 by their father, Trilokchan Singh.

"He was a very 3 man," says Kamaljeet of his father, who died in 2010. In the 1980s, Trilokchan began organizing volunteers to help him clean temples. Then they began 4 one of India's most underserved groups（弱势群体）: the migrant workers who came to Delhi from rural areas. It started with a free breakfast, and eventually the group was also providing basic first aid for minor, often job-related,5 . 

After his death, Kamaljeet and Premjit, inspired by their father's lifetime of service, 6 the organization. "We are continuing helping the poor," says Premjit, 61, "Our aim is that no one goes hungry and 7 for in Delhi."

Veerji Ka Dera now 8 about 2,500 daily wage workers and homeless people a day, in addition to offering basic medical care to as many as 500 people. It's all made9 by the roughly 250 families who 10 their time to cook, drive, nurse, farm and clean. During the Covid-19 pandemic, with special 11 from the government, it 12 down to feed 5,000 people a day and offer medical care to those 13 .

In 2023, the award -the Real Heroes of Rising India - was 14 to them by India's Health Minister for their 15 act.