Wrinkles of confusion rippled across Holly’s forehead as she opened the gift from her best friend, Susan.

“I...I thought you could use it for something.” Susan’s stammered explanation did nothing to help us understand why a twelve-by-eighteen-inch dark blue carpet remnant(残余物) was being presented as a birthday gift.

Holly, my daughter, tried bravely not to allow her disappointment to show. She laid the carpet on the kitchen counter, and the two girls headed outside to play.

The next morning, I carried a kitchen bag outside. My heart ached as I saw Susan’s carpet lying in the trash can. Hesitating only a moment, I reached in and picked it up. After giving it a light brushing, I brought it into the house and placed it in the hall closet. Occupied with the business of daily living, the carpet was soon forgotten.

Prior to Holly’s birthday, Susan had been a regular visitor in our home. On several occasions, she rode the bus home with Holly and was one of the few friends ever permitted to stay over on a school night. But now I realized it had been nearly three weeks since we’d even heard mention of Susan’s name. I missed her warm smile and eager-to-please ways.

One day, Holly had arrived home from school. “Susan invited me to come over to her house after school tomorrow,” she announced as she took her books down on the kitchen table. Although her voice carried a so-what attitude, I sensed she was pleased by the invitation.

Arrangements were made, and the girls rode home together on the school bus the following day. As I negotiated the winding country road that led to her house, Susan chatted nervously about her foster mom and the seventeen cats she had taken in and cared for. Soon we arrived at Susan’s house.

A woman wearing a shapeless sweater stood in the doorway to greet us as we approached the small shabby farmhouse.

Hearing my words about everything of Susan, Holly sat silently in the car, with her head stretching forward(前伸) as if willing the car to move faster.

My ex-husband had made some very bad choices in his life, and I did not want my children to pay for them all their lives, so the boys and I talked and we decided to move. We moved 2,700 miles from home. We had a small car that pulled a small U-haul over the Rocky Mountains. I could barely read a map (my 8-year-old reads them great, I learned).

We arrived in our new town three days later, and found an apartment. I started the boys in their new school and went to our new home to unload the U-haul. I had brought all the clothes, dishes, blankets and toys that I could fit in the U-haul. As I began unloading, a lady whom I had briefly met the day before was driving down the road and she stopped to help me unload and carry everything up the three flights of stairs. After getting moved in, I was blessed two days later when I found a job.

Things were going great. The boys went to the Boys & Girls Club after school, and I would pick them up after work. In December, two months after moving, the manager of the Boys & Girls Club called me and said that there was a group of people who wanted to choose a family for Christmas and would I mind if they chose our family. My first thought was no, because we had all the love we needed for the holidays, but then he said that my children had told him that there was no furniture in the house, and this group had a lot of used furniture, and that the boys and I would be making them very happy. So I agreed.

They called me and asked what the boys wanted for Christmas and I told them that anything would be appreciated, and I told them what their favorite toys were.

They showed up on December 23.

My children and I have supported a child every year since then.

The Chore Chain(家务大联手)

“Washing windows is the worst chore in the world,” Maddie complained. As she washed her towel again, Maddie noticed her neighbor Mr. Valdez was bending and holding on to a tree. “Mr. Valdez,”Maddie called as she walked through the leaves on the ground. “How are you?” “Well, Maddie, my back hurt when I raked(耙) these leaves,”Mr. Valdez said. “Raking is hard for me.” “I’ll rake them for you. Just take a rest,”Maddie volunteered. She knew Mr. Valdez didn’t have good health.

“Thank you so much,” Mr. Valdez said. “I think I’ll go to see my friend Mr. Iguchi across the street. He is a doctor and able to ease my pain.” Mr. Valdez’s trees lost many leaves. The leaves looked lovely for Maddie. “This will keep me busy all afternoon,” Maddie thought happily as her leaf pile grew. Well, almost all afternoon, she reminded herself she still had to clean the windows.

Maddie finally made her small leaf pile into one huge mountain. She stared first at her leaf mountain, then at Mr. Valdez’s clean yard. “I can’t put off cleaning those windows any longer,” Maddie thought. “I’ll bag these leaves later. It’s a pity that I don’t have time to play in my mountain.” She turned toward her house, and then stopped.

She unexpectedly found that Mr. Iguchi was facing her living room windows and washing the windows.“Mr. Iguchi, why are you cleaning my windows?” Maddie ran across the yard and asked. “And you almost finish it!” Surprised by Maddie’s arrival, Mr. Iguchi froze for an instant. Before he got a chance to answer, Mr. Valdez explained as he crossed the street from Mr. Iguchi’s house. “When I stopped to visit Mr. Iguchi, he was starting to cut some potatoes for a salad,” Mr. Valdez said. “However, I told by his troubled look that he disliked that work.”

“But how cutting potatoes turned into washing windows?” Maddie still wondered.

Maddie thanked Mr. Iguchi and ran toward the leaf mountain.

Jessie was standing by the door looking across the road. A group of boys were playing football, running and shouting. And a small boy was sitting on the ground watching. It was her little brother Felix. “How small and thin he was!” Jessie said to herself. Jessie was an African girl living in a poor neighborhood in Kenya with her parents and her little brother Felix. Their parents were working from morning till night, but they still found it hard to make ends meet. And sometimes they even couldn’t have enough money for food. And things were becoming more difficult as their mother became ill. Jessie looked at her brother again. She could tell how he longed for a pair of sports shoes even without looking at his eyes. He really wanted them. She couldn’t remember how many times he had told her about it. But what could she do? She sighed and went into the room.

Jessie went to school as usual and when she went into the classroom, she found her classmates a bit excited. “Have you heard the news that a long distance race would be held in our area?” Hye, her best friend asked. “No.” Jessie replied casually. “Oh, there will be some prizes. Even the third prize can be a pair of good sports shoes...” Hye continued. For the rest of the day, Jessie didn’t know what her teachers were saying. What she knew was that she would take part and she ran all the way back home to tell Felix about the big news and promised that she would get them for him.

The big day finally came. Jessie had a good start, but she began to get tired halfway. But she tried her best to stay behind the first two runners. Her legs began to ache and suddenly, she collided with another runner and she crashed to the ground.

Jessie looked ahead and some runners raced by.

Full of joy, Jessie walked home quickly.