“Watch out! You nearly hit that car!” My father yelled at me.“Can’t you do anything right?”Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me. An uncomfortable feeling rose in my throat as I looked down. I wasn’t prepared for another argument.“I saw the car, Dad. Please don’t shout at me when I’m driving.”My voice was calm and even, sounding far calmer than I really felt. Dad stared at me, and then turned away and settled back.

That night I went outside to collect my thoughts. What could I do about him? Dad had been a lumberjack(伐木工人) in Washington and Oregon. He had enjoyed being outdoors using his strength against the forces of nature. The first time he couldn’t lift a heavy log,he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, struggling to lift it. He became angry whenever anyone made fun of his advancing age, or when he couldn’t do something he had done as a younger man.

Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky;he survived. But something inside Dad died. His enthusiasm for life was gone. He refused to follow the doctor’s orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned down with rude words. The number of visitors thinned, and then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.

My husband, Nick, and I asked Dad to come and live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rural atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed that nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became upset. Soon I was taking my anger out on Nick. We began to argue. Luckily, Nick had a friend who was a mental health expert. After he listened to our story, he recommended that we should find a dog to accompany Dad. I thought maybe I should have a try.

The next day, I set out to look for a dog.

“Dad! Look what I got for you!”I said as I entered the house.

Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl.

One day when she and her mother were at the grocery store (杂货店), Jenny saw a plastic pearl (珍珠) necklace priced at $2.50.How she wanted that necklace, and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, “Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I’ll tell you what. I’ll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of housework that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don’t forget that for your birthday Grandma might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?” Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her.

Jenny worked on her housework very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls. How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother.

The only time she didn’t wear them was in the shower. Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!

Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favourite chair every night and read Jenny her favourite story.

One night when he finished the story, he said, “Jenny, do you love me?” “Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you,” the little girl said. “Well, then, give me your pearls.” “Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!” Jenny said. “But you can have beautiful, my favourite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit(全套装备),too. Okay?” “Oh no, darling, that’s okay.” Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Good night, little one.”

A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, “Do you love me?”

Several days later, when Jenny’s father came in to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lips were trembling. “Here, Daddy,”

Youth Day is a yearly festival for all the young people.