【推荐2】Once upon a time a little leaf was heard to sigh and cry, as leaves often do when a gentle wind is about.

And the twig (细枝) said, “What is the matter, little leaf?”

And the leaf said, “The wind just told me that one day it would pull me off and throw me down to lie on the ground!”

The twig told it to the branch on which it grew, and the branch told it to the tree. And when the tree heard it, it rustled all over, and sent back word to the leaf, “Do not be afraid; hold on tightly, and you shall not go till you want to.”

And so the leaf stopped sighing, but went on nestling and singing. Every time the tree shook itself and stirred up all its leaves, the branches shook themselves, and the little twig shook itself, and the little leaf danced up and down merrily, as if nothing could ever pull it off.

And so it grew all summer long until October.

And when the bright days of autumn came, the little leaf saw all the leaves around becoming very beautiful. Some were yellow, and some scarlet, and some mixed with both colors.

Then it asked the tree what it meant. And the tree said, “All these leaves are getting ready to fly away, and they have put on these beautiful colors because of joy.”

Then the little leaf began to want to go, and grew very beautiful in thinking of it, and when it was very bright, it saw that the branches of the tree had no color in them, and so the leaf said, “Oh branches, why are you lead color and we golden?”

“We must keep on our work clothes, for our life is not done; but your clothes are for holiday...”

Just then a little puff of wind came, and the leaf let go without thinking of it, and the wind took it up, and turned it over and over, and whirled it like a spark of fire in the air, and then it fell gently down under the fence among hundreds of other leaves, and began to dream — a dream so beautiful that perhaps it will last forever.

【推荐3】When the pandemic hit last year, substitute teacher Jose Villaruel found himself out of work as lessons went online. The consequences were unbearable for the septuagenarian, who’d been sending his income to his sick wife and children living in Mexico.

In fact, the devoted husband had been living out of his car for the past eight years so he could send his family the money they needed. Now, with no job, Villaruel is living off his Social Security check, most of which he sent to his loved ones.

Thankfully, a former student, Steven Nava, came across his struggling teacher in a parking lot at 5:00 am on the way to work. He approached his old teacher and asked about his circumstances. When Villaruea explained his struggles, the 21-year-old decided to help. “He was so nice around his students. He’d be really, really funny when he took attendance,” Nava said.

Nava gave him the $300 he had on him at the time. The teacher was moved, as his former student shared, “He came over to give me a hug and as he was hugging me, I saw tears running down his face.”

Villaruel’s response only encouraged Nava to help further, as he promised the teacher he’d do whatever it took to get him out of his predicament. “Seeing him living and going through that struggle made me want to do this. He helped us with our futures and helped us become the persons we are today, so I wanted to help him and make sure he’s in a situation where he doesn’t have to worry anymore,” the young man explained.

Later, Nava set up a GoFundMe page and t he donations quickly mounted up to $27,000. So along with other former students, he presented the check to a delighted “Mr. V” on his 77th birthday.

The impressed teacher is now planning to have a little vacation in Mexico to spend time with his family.