My son Ben had hardly heard of his cousins Marcia and Juli before we moved to their hometown. Since we’d become neighbors, I thought he should get to know them. So, I invited the cousins over for a meet-and-greet one afternoon.

When the bell rang, Ben rushed to open the door. In came Marcia, a chatty, retired schoolteacher in her 70s. Dragging behind her, relying heavily on his walking stick, was her over-eighty-year-old husband Juli, who used to be a sports lover. Not having seen him since I’d become a mom, I wondered whether he was kid-friendly. With one glance, I quickly decided that he probably wasn’t.

After the introductions, we sat down to have a chat. Ben, who was 4 at the time, stared curiously at the cousins. Suddenly, he eyed Juli’s walking stick, which stood right beside his chair. “Why do you have a stick? ” he asked abruptly.

Juli paused for a while as he hadn’t expected my son to speak to him. Then he seemed pleased that Ben had noticed something about him. He briefly explained, and invited Ben to try out the walking stick. Excited, Ben stepped up, took it in hand and walked with it around the room. The serious look on Juli’s face softened as he watched. That afternoon, Ben jumped in and out of the room several times to have fun with his new friend. Toward the end of the visit, Ben sneaked over to Juli, wordlessly climbed onto his lap and gave him a hug. After a little surprise, Juli’s lips curved into a subtle smile.

During the following two years, Juli often came to babysit Ben. The two would call each other buddy and laughed loudly together, even though one was much older.

One summer evening, unexpectedly, I received a painful call saying that Juli had just passed away, which came as a shock to me. I gently told Ben about the terrible loss, explaining that Juli was 85. “That was so young!” Ben shouted between tears.

The next day, we decided to visit cousin Marcia.

Before we left, Marcia told Ben that she had something special to give him.

A boy named Ali had a large and harmonious family, happily living with his sisters, parents and grandmother. His grandmother loved everyone a lot and was respected by all family members. She was very old, but sometimes she would recall things from her past and share with them. Sometimes they would believe her but at other times they would think that Granny might be mixing up the facts due to her old age.

One day, when Ali was in school, suddenly while knitting (编织), Granny remembered something and she couldn’t contain her emotions so she got up to tell her son — Ali’s father. She walked as fast as she could to his room and said, “You always asked about my birth date, but do you know today is the day when I was born?”

She looked at her son with an excited expression, expecting an immediate response. However, her son wondered how she could remember her date of birth in this old age when she forgot so many other things, so he didn’t pay much attention to this. Disappointed at her son’s reaction, Granny then went to Ali’s mother and Ali’s sister, but like Ali’s father, nobody believed her.

Sadly, she went and sat in the terrace (庭院). When Ali returned from his school, he found his grandmother sitting alone with a sad expression. Ali asked his granny about the matter, but she said there was nothing to worry about. After a lot of persuasion she finally told him what was troubling her — nobody seemed to care that it was her birthday today!

After hearing what Granny said, Ali thought of a plan. Purely by chance, some of Ali’s friends were playing nearby so he shared his plan with them.

The Dickensons lived on the eastern coast of America and the three boys, Carl, Simon, and little Ben loved the water. The elder brothers usually helped their dad on his farm and took care of their little brother.

There was an island off shore in the distance. One Saturday the two elder brothers decided to go there for an adventure. When they were leaving, their father said, “Boys, I have to go to town and I want you to take care of Ben. You can carry him together but be careful!” Although they thought Ben was too young to take risks, they still took him.

When the three arrived at the shore, they were lucky to find an old rowboat with oars (桨).Carl and Simon took turns to paddle (划桨)the boat.

Suddenly they noticed the old boat leaking slowly. Carl asked them not to worry and said that they could empty water when they got back. But as the boys neared the island, they struck a rock hidden under the water. It enlarged the hole, more water pouring in. They were glad to be safe on shore!

“How can we get back with the weight of us?” Simon wondered.

Carl answered “You row Ben across, and then come back for me. If we move fast, it won’t sink with only two.” Simon agreed.

The boys started to explore the island. It was flat with many trees. In a couple of hours they had gone all around the island, but when they headed for their boat, they were shocked! Their boat was bumping against trees. The tide was coming in! The island was disappearing!

The boys took a rock and tried to fill it into the hole but they only made it worse because of the old wood. Carl thought a minute “Simon, you take Ben as fast as you can. Then run for the house and see if Dad can come to rescue me. I can climb a tree or something that will give me maybe another hour.” The brothers hugged. Then Carl turned the boat around, helped Ben get in and pushed it as hard as he could toward home

Half an hour passed and only a small part of the island was above water now.

In a few minutes, dad picked up Carl into his motorboat and hugged him.

One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more way for her to solve my strange problem—inability (没能力)to read.

In the library, I found my way into the “Children’s Room”. I pulled a few books off the shelf and sat down on the floor. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of dog. I had recently had a dog, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was the one I could share secrets with, but later he was given away to someone who had space and money to care for him. I never forgot my dog.

On the book’s cover, there was a dog which looked the same as mine. I figured the   picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the little, Amos, the Dog with a Plan. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty and got the main ides of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final scene of reunion. When I finished my reading, a stream of tears ran down my cheeks. It was until then that I realized I had begun to overcome my inability to read. Thus, this was the very first book for me which I had read through and deeply immersed myself in the real scene.

My mother’s call brought me back to the real world and I suddenly realized something.

Last year, my mother was so proud that her son was awarded a PhD in literature.