【推荐1】After 7 long years since the cute cat named Chebon went missing, there was little hope that it could be found. Robert probably already came to peace with the thought that he would never see his little friend again until he received a life-changing call. Clearly, a kind stranger reached out to tell him that his beloved cat was safe and sound and couldn’t wait to see him again!

The cat went missing years ago, right before Robert was planning on moving from California to Ohio. The sad owner decided to give up his plans and stayed in California for the whole year looking for his missing friend, but in vain. “I remember at one point I was praying and I said, ‘God, I’ll do anything, just bring my Chebon back…’”, Robert said in a video posted on the Ventura County Animal Services. The cat seemed to have disappeared forever and Robert had no other choice than to move on.

Then 7 years later, a woman noticed a cat that looked ill, so she decided to catch the animal and take him to the vet (兽医). Luckily, the cat she found had a microchip (微型芯片), and in an instant, they knew who the owner of the 19-year-old cat was. That’s when Robert received a call saying that his cat was alive.

“I was afraid there was some kind of mistake,” Robert said in the reunion video. The man decided to ride on a plane and fly all the way from Los Angeles to see his old friend. After finally seeing the cat, Robert immediately recognized his cat and burst into tears. After all these years, the two friends were back together. The touching moment was recorded by the animal shelter and was quickly spread on the Internet, leaving so many people in tears.

【推荐2】Computer programmer David Jones earns $35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card. Instead he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18. The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David’s firm releases two new games for the fast growing computer market each month.

But David’s biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or get credit cards. David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs” he said. David spends some of his money on records and clothes and gives his mother 50 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.

“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school”, he said. “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway” David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”

【推荐3】“Serena, don’t forget your promise to me that you will mow (割) Mrs. Martin’s yard this weekend,” said Dad. “Don’t let me down.”

Serens was the oldest child in the family, and one of her chores was to mow their yard. Mrs. Martin, their elderly neighbor, was unable to take care of her yard, so Serena’s Dad had volunteered Serena for this job. Since Mrs. Martin’s yard was not very big, Serena knew the job would go quickly. However, she still resented her dad’s promise.

“Why didn’t you ask me first?” Serena had complained.

“Did you ask me first when you volunteered me to be in the school festival last fall?” asked Serena’s father.

“Well, no, I didn’t ask you first, but you would have done those things anyway. You’re always willing to help.”

“I try when I can,” Dad answered. “Serena, we have known Mrs. Martin for a very long time. She has often helped our family. Now we can do something for her. Besides, the feeling you get from helping someone makes you wonder who is really helping whom.”

“I don’t know, Dad,” said Serena. “The only feeling I get from mowing our yard is tired.”

“Just you wait and see,” said Dad.

After breakfast, Serena made her way to Mrs. Martin’s yard. She was good at her job and soon had Mrs. Martin’s yard looking tidy. Mrs. Martin came outside with a big glass of orange juice and offered it to her. Serena stopped her work and gratefully enjoyed the drink, while Mrs. Martin talked to her about all of the flowers in her yard. Seeing the joy in Mrs. Martin’s eyes, Serena began to understand how much the yard meant to Mrs. Martin.

After finishing her drink, Serena returned to work with a new attitude. A warm feeling began to spread (蔓延) through her body. Her dad was right. It was hard to tell who was helping who!

【推荐1】David Rees runs a very distinctive business. He charges customers $15 to sharpen their pencils to perfection, using a variety of tools.

I know what you’re thinking—is this a joke? The 39-year-old gets asked that question a lot. To clarify everything, he even created a special section on his website telling everyone he’s actually providing a real service.

You can supply your own pencil or you can have Rees sharpen one of his own favorite 2B pencils. After that, he mails it to you in a display tube with the shavings in a separate bag, and an authentic certificate which just happens to mention the pencil is so sharp as to be a dangerous object.

To achieve the desired result, the master sharpener uses all kinds of tools, including general sandpaper, pocket knives and even a special $ 450 sharpening machine. “It depends on what the customer wants to use his/her pencil for,” he says. That determines the most appropriate pencil-sharpening technique. Some customers buy pencils as inspirational symbols while others buy them because of their special memories of classic 2B pencils.

$15 to have a pencil sharpened is a bit expensive though, right? You’re not the only one who feels that way, and David’s unique business has really angered lots of people, who talk of inequality in America, saying it is so insane for the wealthy to pay $15 to sharpen a pencil. But others will say, “This is just our urge to put an end to the welfare state because new ideas arise along with the business.”

David admits his trade is sort of unusual. But there are those who actually value his service, as is proven by the over 500 orders he has gotten.

【推荐2】During the 1930s, the Great War broke out. A 25-year-old American soldier, probably never thought that his life would change forever when he volunteered to go to France.

One night while the American unit was returning to the base after a bloody fight, Suleyman stumbled into the ground and noticed a bit of movement from the bush. Being stuck between two choices either its enemy or an animal, Suleyman found a five-year-old girl from the bushes shivering with cold and utmost fear. Due to the atrocity of the war, the girl was abandoned by her family and the whole village was killed.

During the war, it was impossible to find the child’s family so Suleyman took this little French girl under his wings and gave her an American name Flora which means like the flower. Soon, Flora became the apple of the eye of everyone living in the army camp.

For one and a half years, Flora and Suleyman became inseparable; however, every fairy tale comes to an end. When the war ended, Suleyman was sent back to USA, while Flora was put in an orphanage, the Normandy School, which was founded by the American government for orphaned French children to have an education.

For years, Suleyman always thought about Flora. When the French National Olympic Team was playing in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, Suleyman gazed through the audience on TV, hoping to catch a glimpse of Flora, but he never could.

At the age of 85, Suleyman attended the 60th anniversary reception of the Great War where Suleyman shared his story with American and French officials. After hearing his story, a French journalist started to investigate the story, and all government files were read in detail. The moment the journalist helped dial the number, in tears, Flora said Suleyman was her hero, and everything came flooding back to her.

【推荐3】Police officer Jody Thompson first met his son John in 2015. He was pulling into the car park at the Poteau Police Department in Oklahoma when he overheard a call about a case of physical child abuse. Despite being off duty, Thompson responded to the call.

He arrived at the scene to find a severely underweight boy, who was covered in bruises (淤青) with his wrists tied. The eight-year-old, who weighed just over 25 kilograms at the time, had been left in a dustbin full of cold water.

“He didn’t have a spot on his body that didn’t have a bruise. It was the worst thing I’d ever seen,” Thompson said. Thompson drove John to hospital and sat by his side all night as the child recovered in the intensive care unit.

The following day, he contacted the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) to request he become the child’s foster parent. Within just a few days, Thompson had brought John into the safety of his own home.

“When I’d seen him in that house shivering and his hands tied — just wet to the skin and confused — I knew at that moment, the only time I would be satisfied and sure that he was safe was if he was with me,” he said.

Thompson already had two sons, aged 15 and 18. He didn’t tell his family about his plan at first, but said they had faith he was doing the right thing. In an extraordinary twist, just two days after bringing John into the family home, he found out his wife was pregnant with their third biological son.

And seven months later, DHS called the Thompsons to ask if they wanted to foster John’s newborn sister, Paizly, who was born in prison. They picked her up the next day — when she was just a day old — and brought her straight home. Both John and Paizly were later adopted by Thompson and his wife.

‘The example of love that Thompson has shown to this young man and his sister is an example everyone should follow,” Poteau Police Chief Stephen Fruen said in a statement. “It’s men like Thompson that make me proud of our police force brothers and sisters. I am proud to serve with him.”