【推荐1】After a long day at the office, Jane Hodgson was on her way home and looking forward to relaxing with a nice cup of tea. While driving, she noticed that there was a car pulled over at the side of the road and a crowd had started to gather around someone who was lying on the ground.

Jane, who had completed first aid at work course with the British Red Cross, pulled over to see if she could do something and it turned out to be lucky for the victim.

Describing the scene she saw, Jane says, “A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene. A couple of young men were cream-faced and looking lost. They were completely terrified. When I walked up, first-aid kit in hand, they said ‘You’re a first aider—Oh thank goodness.’ They were so shocked that they hadn’t even thought to call an ambulance yet.”

A young girl called Jenny was lying there. It turned out that the teen had been hit by a car and gone over the handlebars of her bike, landing on her head and shoulder.

“I was worried because she had not been wearing a helmet when she got knocked down, and I thought that she should not be moved as I couldn’t be sure about a spinal(脊柱)injury, but after looking her over, in relief, I felt fairly confident that she had escaped relatively unharmed. Even so, as time passed and we continued to wait for an ambulance, the amount of pain the girl was in was increasing. To avoid the risk of her going into shock I kept her talking. We chatted about her boyfriend and anything I could think of to keep her mind off the pain. She squeezed my hand when the pain got too much and this helped,” describes Jane.

Thinking back, Jane says, “I never did find out what happened to the girl. Apart from the boyfriend I wasn’t thanked by anyone else, but that’s OK. For me, knowing that in a small way I helped that girl through what was a frightening experience is all the reward I need. It felt great to know I’d made a difference.”

【推荐2】Recently it is said that a dog has received an award for picking up a number of beer cans, coffee cups, and other pieces of trash, helping clean up her neighborhood in the process. It's unclear if Daisy is aware of her service, but her help has not gone unnoticed, by any means.

In fact, it is reported that this nine-year-old dog has picked up more than 5,000 pieces of rubbish. Daisy has been collecting rubbish for the last eight years, at least two times a day. Coming from the city of Worcester in the United Kingdom, Daisy has become the first dog to receive an honor from the mayor(市长). Unlike other dogs, Daisy prefers sniffing around for beer cans, among other things. She carries them back home to her owner, Judy Owens, who then takes her pet's offerings and recycles them.

“I wish Daisy understood how special she was and the award just marks what a special little dog she is,” Judy said. “She started picking up rubbish when she was around a beer can and I think she discovered it by accident.”

“One day she just sniffed out a beer can, then began picking it up," she continued. “She gets very attached to rubbish, and she must think it's some kind of treasure.”

Daisy has become something of a celebrity in her town, often known as the dog that helps get rid of all the rubbish. Then, the mayor invited Judy and Daisy to come to his office. “When we arrived he told us that Daisy would be receiving the award because he wanted to make people more conscious of protecting the environment and to thank her for her contributions over the years,” Judy said. “It was such a surprise... Daisy thought this was great and went to sit on the mayor's chair with a beer can in her mouth. Everyone thought she was funny and started laughing.”

【推荐3】My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my classmates, Santa Claus would come down one’s chimney and put toys in one’s stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up “stocking” in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew what I had to do.

On that fateful night after everyone went to bed, I took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel(壁炉).

Obviously, the previous owners of this house were on strangers to this Santa character. I woke up before everyone else on Christmas Day and ran to the fireplace. To make a sob story short, I was hit with the sock, and stuffed it in the back of a drawer. Santa was dead.

Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry.

How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, an older man with a white beard and a red can knocked on my front door. He said, “I’ve been looking for you for twenty-five years.” He handed me a bulging red stocking, winked, and lent. On top of the stocking was a card. It read:“For Becky— I may have missed you in the second grade, but you’ve always lived in my heart, Santa”

Through tear-barred eyes, I recognized the handwriting of Jill, a friend I had met just two months before. I later discovered that the older man was her father. Jill had seen the hurt little girl underneath the thirty-something woman and decided to do something about it.

So now I believe that Santa is real, I don’t mean the twinkle-eyed character of children’s mythology or the creation of American holiday marketers. Those Santas annoy and sadden me. I believe in the Santa Claus that lives inside good and thoughtful people. This Santa does not return to the North Pole after a crazy delivery but lives each day purposefully, rally listens to friends, and then plans deliberate acts of kindness.

【推荐2】It was a cold winter. The wind blew all night and the snow was blinding. When morning came, my three children and I got up and made our way to the windows. As we looked out the window, we saw that the henhouse was gone. Our three hens had been blown away.

I looked at the emptiness outside. Then I saw all three chickens sat around the edge of a white bucket. How was this violent wind not blowing them into the field beyond? I quickly pulled on long snow pants and heavy winter coat, wrapped a scarf and stuck my feet into very large boots.

I shouted at the wind as it blew. I was alone, struggling in the snow. They stared out the window into the vast white sea of snow, their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Outside I heard the sound of my boots as I braved the elements.

The snow circling around me, I steadily made my way to the soft cluck-cluck-cluck sound my hens always made. When I reached them, I saw that their little feet were holding on to the edge of the bucket, heads bent forward and away from the wind. I gently lifted each hen and put it carefully into the warm inside. Then I began the freezing walk back to the small shed directly behind our house. One by one I laid my chickens on the cold floor, and they began to cluck softly.

As I shut the shed doors, my eyes went directly to the window where my children were watching. They jumped up and down cheering, and so did I! I wasn’t some dragon slayer (屠龙者) from a fairy tale. I was simply a mom, but the look on my children’s faces told me that they thought I was a hero mom.

【推荐3】Before she passed away, A. J. Walters asked her husband to accompany their daughter Brittany, a high school senior, to the homecoming game, where she was in the running for homecoming queen. Actually, her last wish was to cheer for her daughter on the school field. A. J., who always showed everyone love, was a beloved assistant at Brittany’s high school.

On the morning of the homecoming day, A. J. died. Keeping their promise, that very afternoon, an emotional Brittany walked arm in arm with her father across the school field with the other competitors to wait for the outcome of the game.

Brittany wasn’t named homecoming queen that day; Nyla Covington was. Like many in the close community, Nyla had heard about A. J and her last wish. Moments after receiving the crown, listening to her heart, Nyla walked over to Brittany, removed the crown from her head, and placed it on the top of her friend’s, saying, “Your mother would want you to have this.” The two hugged, tearfully holding each other tightly for support. And there wasn’t a dry eye in the field.

Nyla said in an interview, “By handing the crown to Brittany, I was telling her that she was her mom’s queen, and that she was loved by many, especially me.”

“I felt so much love from Nyla, and I just felt so much love for her,” said Brittany in tears, “I can see my mom through Nyla. They have the same loving, giving spirit.”

There’s a saying that real queens fix each other’s crowns. But the truth is, real queens give up their crowns to let other queens shine.