When you stay away from your home for a long time, you start to miss your good old bed, your good old parents… Believe it or not, you're feeling homesick. You can help yourself to feel less homesick. Here's how:

    When Ana Dodson was 11 years old, she travelled to Peru. She went on more than just a vacation. She was visiting her native country.

    Ana was born in Peru, but she was adopted(领养)by an American family and grew up in the USA. While in Peru, Ana wanted to know what her life could have been like if she had not been adopted. She visited several orphanages, including one in the hills of Cuzco, near her birthplace.

    "The orphanage was really cold and dry," Ana said. "The paint was falling off. The girls were in poor health."

    When Ana returned home, she kept thinking of the orphanage in Cuzco." I really couldn't get the girls out of my mind, and I really wanted to do something because I could have been one of those girls in that orphanage."

    Ana decided to start a group called Peruvian Hearts to help. Her goal was to improve orphans' living conditions. In the first two years, Peruvian Hearts raised about $18, 000 for the orphanage. The group also bought a chicken coop(鸡舍)so the girls can eat fresh eggs.

    Ana's efforts have been noticed. She won a Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. The prize is given to kids who make a difference. Ana says any kid can do what she did. "Really believe in yourself, and follow your heart, "she says.

    Jack is the most special friend to me.

    Different from other7-year-old children, Jack began to go to school at the age of ten. But he got worried about his mother because she had disability. She couldn't do anything but worked in her small garden to get some money.

    Jack's birthday came. He invited his classmates to his party. He was excited although there wasn't enough food in his home. He waited for so long but none of them came. Jack star-ted crying. "They must think we are poor. "Then his mother said, "No, it is because of me. My disability is the reason why they run away from you. ""They can't hate someone because of his disability, "Jack said.

    The next day, one of Jack's classmates asked, "How was your party? Did anyone come?" And then others started laughing. Jack said angrily, "You didn't come, but it doesn't mean it was the worst day of my life. I have someone that is important to me and that person is my mother. You are laughing at me because of her. Although you don't like her, you won't stop me from loving her. You can't hate someone just because he is disabled. It is just the way that he was born with. "All his classmates were ashamed after hearing this.

    From then on, all the students started to appreciate Jack because he spoke for the disabled people.

I still remember the day when my first grandchild, Noah, was born in the hospital. The room was full of1 from the family. And we hugged each other in excitement and wished he would grow up healthily like other babies. But things didn't go2 as planned. Noah faced lots of health problems from the very beginning. And doctor told us that he would3 to grow up healthily, which broke our hearts. Noah wasn't able to suck (吮吸) like most babies. He couldn't eat on his own. So doctors had to give him a feeding tube (胃食管) just to keep him4 . It was heartbreaking for us to see him go through so much5 . But we lived positively (every day 6 complained about the unfairness. Because we realized we should7 the things life gives us.

Noah is a special and excellent boy. He has come a long way since those early days. He has faced many8 and achieved so much. Today is his 13% birthday. We held a big party outdoors. Many relatives and friends accepted our invitation,9 this party on time. We were thankful that we10 together when facing difficulties. Family is where life begins and love never ends.

It was a cold winter morning. My 12-year-old granddaughter, Jayne, sent me messages on the phone every hour during her six-hour drive to our house.

"Grandma, can you put some snow in the fridge (冰箱)? That way, I can feel snow when I get there," she wrote. Jayne lives in the south of Georgia, the US with her parents, so she never saw snow before.

"Yes, I will," I wrote. "There is still some snow on the ground in the yard." And I sent her a few photos of it. However, the weather report brought me bad news. It said the weather would be sunny at noon. This made me feel concerned.

In the afternoon, they finally arrived. Jayne got out of the car first. She ran into the yard and put her hands in the snow. She looked so excited. It was great that the sun didn't come out that day.

"Grandma, the weather is so cold, but I enjoy playing with snow," Jayne said. Then she started to build a snowman. She made two large snowballs first. They were the head and the body. It looked nice. Jayne kept playing outside until her hands got wet and cold. Watching Jayne playing in the snow made me feel warm and thankful.

I still remember the lovely cold day. Small things in our lives can also make us happy.