When I was in Grade 6, I knew a girl. She 1 to point out my shortcomings and always said I was very thin, I wasn't a good student, and so on. I tried not to care what she said. 2 , I became very 3 in the end. I cried and ran to Daddy.

    Daddy asked, “Are the things she says true or not? Lisa, didn't you ever 4 what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's 5 . Go and make a 6 of everything she said and 7 the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

    To my 8 , I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't 9 (like being very thin), 10 a good number I could and suddenly I11to change. For the first time I got a clear 12 of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy. He 13 to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the 14  about yourself. But you have to learn to 15 . Don't just close your ears in anger, feeling 16 . When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be 17 to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don't 18 your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is 19 .”

    In my life, this is the best 20 that Daddy has given me.

    We have been driving in fog all morning, but the fog is lifting now. The little seaside villages are 1 one by one. "There is my grandmother's house," I say,2 across the bay to a shabby old house.

    I am in Nova Scotia on a pilgrimage (朝圣) with Lise, my granddaughter, seeking roots for her, retracing (追溯)3 memory for me. Lise was one of the mobile children,4 from house to house in childhood. She longs for a sense of 5 , and so we have come to Nova Scotia where my husband and I were born and where our ancestors 6for 200 years.

    We soon 7 by the house and I tell her what it was like here, the memories8back, swift as the tide (潮水).

Suddenly, I long to walk again in the 9where I was once so glorious a child. It still 10a member of the family, but has not been lived in for a while. We cannot go into the house, but I can still walk11the rooms in memory. Here, my mother 12 in her bedroom window and wrote in her diary. I can still see the enthusiastic family 13 into and out of the house. I could never have enough of being 14 them. However, that was long after those childhood days. Lise 15 attentively as I talk and then says, " So this is where I 16 ; where I belong. "

She has17her roots. To know where I come from is one of the great longings of the human 18. To be rooted is "to have an origin". We need 19 origin. Looking backward, we discover what is unique in us; learn the20 of "I". We must all go home again—in reality or memory.

    When I was in the seventh grade, I was a volunteer at a local hospital in my town.Most of the 1 I spent there was with Mr. Gillespie.He never had any visitors and nobody seemed to care about his 2.

    I spent many days there holding his hand and talking to him,3 anything that needed to be done.He became a close friend of mine,4 he responded with only an occasional squeeze(捏) of my 5. Mr. Gillespie was in a coma(昏迷).

    I left for a week to vacation with my parents, and when I came back, Mr. Gillespie was 6. I didn't have the7 to ask any of the nurses where he was, for fear that they might8 me he had died.

    Several 9 later, when I was a senior in high school, I was at the gas station when I noticed a familiar face.When I10 who it was, my eyes filled with tears.He was 11! I got up the nerve to ask him if his name was Mr. Gillespie. With an uncertain look 12 his face, he replied yes.I 13 how I knew him and that I had spent many days talking with him in the hospital.His eyes welled up with tears, and he gave me the warmest hug I had ever 14.

    He began to tell me that15 he lay there comatose(昏迷的), he could hear me talking to him and could 16 me holding his hand the whole time. Mr. Gillespie17 believed that it was my voice and 18 that had kept him alive.

    Although I haven't seen him since, he fills my heart with 19 every day.I know that I made a(n)20 between his life and his death.

    I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people 1I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a 2person.

    I think my 3started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my4and be left alone. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, so I hardly ever5to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really 6It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So I tried a（n）7.I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I 8to help. That was really a big 9for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of 10 are still my best friends today.

    A bigger cause of my new 11, however, came when I took a part-time job at Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer's disease became my 12. Every time I came into her room, she was so13because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never 14her, so I took her place. She let me 15that making others feel good made me feel good too. When she died, I was 16, but I was also very grateful to her.

    I think I am a much17person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not18these experiences. They have 19me to care about other people more than about myself. I 20who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.

    I always long for romantic moments, like a little girl longing for candies.However, my husband is my complete1His inability to bring romantic moments into our life has made me get tired of our2One day, I finally told him that I wanted a divorce.

    "Why?" he asked,3.

    "I am tired; there are no4for everything in the world!" I answered.

    He kept5, seeming to be in deep thought, with a lighted cigarette in his hands. Finally he asked," What can I do to change your6?"

    Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered," Let's say, I want a flower on a mountain cliff and picking the flower will cause your7Will you do it for me?"

    He answered," I will give you my answer tomorrow."

    I8the next morning, finding a piece of paper on the dining table, which read:" My dear, I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to9."

    My feeling of disappointment only10, but I continued reading:

    "You always leave the11keys behind, so I have to save my legs to12home to open the door for you. You always like to stay indoors and I13that you will feel too lonely, so I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories. You always stare14the computer and that will do nothing15for your eyes, so I have to save my eyes so that when we grow16, I can help to clip your nails. Thus, my dear,17I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do, I could not pick that flower yet, and die."

    My tears fell on the18and I continued reading:

    "Now that you have finished reading my answer, if you are19, please open the front door for I am standing outside20your favorite bread and fresh milk."

    Love, not words, wins arguments.

Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on paper? Words—beautiful and fascinating. But you know what is better than putting your imagination somewhere? In my case, to win the competition for the best novelist.

That was a small tournament organized by my school annually to 1 our creative writing and vivid imagination. Since I had a burning passion for 2 , I decided to show my power. I thought no one could 3 me.

I finished a long story and e-mailed it. As I 4 the email every day, my eyes were wandering to 5 the line "Congratulations! It is a great pleasure to inform you that…". 6 , no such thing came.

I was not accepted. I 7 my abilities. The next day at school, I tried my best to be 8 , avoiding the usual contact. But in the corridor, I 9 Stacy Williams, my school rival. Could she be the 10 ? I started walking sneakily. In class, I was just looking out of the window at the 11 clouds which were a reflection of my soul.

Thankfully, a film that night—Forrest Gump lifted my 12 . I wouldn't let a stupid competition 13 my future. I could win on the next one or even at a better tournament. The important thing was to 14 my head and face my challenges without losing hope when everything seemed 15 .