【推荐1】For the brave in the armed forces, being sent away from home for months at a time is just part of the duty. However, it’s never an easy one to perform especially for those with children. So, when I found out I was going to stay in South Korea for a year, I was nervous about how my five children, particularly my eldest daughter Abigail, would take the news since it meant I wouldn’t be home to see her graduate from high school.

To my surprise, Abigail told me not to worry and even suggested we make the news known among family members. “We’ve been lucky you haven’t had to be sent abroad yet. Anyway, we can get connected through the Internet. See me on your phone on my spot.” Abigail said. She stepped into many of my roles when I was gone. I wanted to find a way to thank her and show her how proud I was of her. I started planning the special surprise when my request to return home a few weeks earlier to attend Abigail’s graduation ceremony was approved.

When my time in South Korea finally came to an end, I flew home, rented a car, and stayed in a hotel. And on Abigail’s graduation day, I hid in an office behind the stage waiting until I heard my daughter’s name called. I just kept thinking “Don’t cry. Don’t trip in your heels. Don’t fall over.” At last! Abigail was up on stage. I slipped up behind her, whispered in her ear, and around she turned! “I was just thinking, like, ‘You aren’t supposed to be here. What? What? How?’ It was the biggest shock... I’m pretty sure my dad made people he didn’t even know cry. Emotional for everyone.” Abigail cried.

You know what followed: embraces, kisses, tears, laughs, flowers, wishes...; aren’t they what a family have in store?

【推荐2】Nanjing Yunjin brocade is traditional Chinese silk art with a history of about 1,600 years. Its complex weaving (编织)techniques, various colors and patterns, and its particular choices of materials make it valuable and ancient people said, “An inch of brocade, an inch of gold.” Today, the traditional characteristics and unique skills of yunjin remain to be an award-winning art treasure. Its techniques are passed down from generation to generation by artisans.

Zhou Shuangxi, a national-level inheritor (继承人) of yunjin weaving techniques, is one of them. Back in 1973, he graduated from a mining school and was selected to become a student at the NanjingYunjin Research Institute along with five other students, just because he was “in good shape”. There were only several masters in their 70s and not even a loom (织布机) to use. “The old masters finally remembered a loom was stored somewhere. When I opened the door, I saw what seemed like a pile of wood,” Zhou recalled.

“Weaving was difficult, but different from mining. Mining requires heavy physical labor, but working with the soft and thin silk requires studying and practicing in front of a loom for decades until you master the technique. My hands became quite awkward due to mining, so I used to put my hands in warm water whenever I could. In this way, they could become softer and weave the silk more easily,” he said.

Out of the six or so students, Zhou is the only one who has insisted on the trade to this day. Having devoted the past five decades to yunjin production despite all the sweat and struggles, he has developed his techniques to the point where he can weave the antique dragon robes in all their small details. He also made various artworks that not only show China's intangible cultural heritage but also serve as Zhou Shuangxi's artistic creations.

“I am lucky to be in such a good era and I have the honor of being a representative inheritor,” Zhou said.

【推荐3】Charles Dickens (1812-1870), the great nineteenth century English novelist, was born near Portsmouth. His father ran heavily into debt and when he was twelve, he had to go and work in a factory for making boot polish. The only formal education he received was a two-year schooling at a school for poor children. In fact, he had to teach himself all he knew. He worked for a time as junior clerk in a lawyer’s office. After that, he worked as a reporter in the law courts, and later in parliament (议会), for London newspapers. His career as a writer of fiction began in 1833 with short stories and essays in periodicals (期刊), and in 1837 his comic novel The Pickwick Papers made him the most popular author at his time in England.

He was a great observer of people and their places because he was attracted by life and conditions in mid-nineteenth century London. He wrote 19 novels all his life and in many of them, Dickens gave a realistic picture of all classes of England society, showing deep sympathy for the poor and unfortunate, exposing the injustice (不公平) and inhumanity（无人性） of the bourgeoisie (资产阶级).

Many of his novels like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and so on drew attention to the unsatisfactory social conditions that existed in England over a hundred years ago.

Dickens criticized capitalist society from the point of view of bourgeois humanism. He wished to see improvement in the living conditions of the poor, but failed to find any effective means to achieve that end.

【推荐2】Many have had the same thought as Shannon St. Onge when looking at the approach of snow on a weather forecast—that they have time to finish their jobs. As the director of finance at the First Nations University of Canada, she had to drive 25 kilometers from her home to the city of Regina to attend an important meeting.

As she was leaving, the winter snow began to fall. Taking a dirt road for better traction (牵引) on her tires, she quickly became lost, with no ability to see the edge of the road from a rolled-down window. After a while she stopped and called 911.

“The operator took my information and told me to wait out the storm as my tank was full and I was warm. I waited almost 14 hours and nobody has called me yet to check in,” she wrote in a Face-book post.

“Would the gas tank last until morning? What if I was hit by another vehicle? What if I didn’t make it home at all?” St. Onge wondered.

Determined to ensure the safest end, she went out in the storm and discovered her location on a road sign, and then found a neighborhood Facebook group for the area she was passing through—warning others of her plight through a Google Maps pin.

That was when 80-year-old Andre Bouvier Sr., a retired rescuer, got a call about St. Onge’s situation. He went out to find her, on foot, since he couldn’t manage to start his tractor.

On the way he found three other stranded (被困) vehicles. He walked the quarter mile there and back, and led the helpless cars one by one to his home. Bouvier let the survivors sleep at his house, where they ate and laughed, and departed the next morning after he had cleaned the driveway.