When I worked as a nurse, I was on day duty while my workmates were on night duty. On one shift, I sensed something just before going off duty at 11 am. I put down the tray(托盘） on the table and suddenly it fell off the table. At first I thought I had accidentally knocked it over, but then I felt the whole building shaking and heard patients were screaming.   

I realized that an earthquake was happening. I quickly caught hold of a nearby patient, who was terribly frightened and pushed her under a bed. And then, I got under another bed myself.   As soon as the earthquake stopped, I decided to try and get the patient safely outside. I carried her out and helped her down to the grassland, where several other people had gathered.

Afraid that my other workmates were in danger, I went back inside the building again. When I met Lucy ,our ward sister(护士长），I found her patient couldn't walk. We made a seat for the patient by linking our hands and arms, and carried her outside together. We went back through the building to check no one was left behind in our ward(病房）.

Just then, we saw that a man doctor was calling for volunteers to go down to other wards with him to help more people. So we went together. The doctor went ahead of us and found one of the nurses partially covered with rubble（碎石），luckily still alive. Suddenly, the aftershock (余震）struck and the doctor ordered us to leave. The brave doctor intended to stay alone and risk his own life to save the nurse.

When a tornado(龙卷风) touched down in a small town nearby,many families were left completed ruined. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.

One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered(破碎的) mobile home, a depressed expression on her face. A young boy, seven or eight years old, stood at her side, eyes downward. Clutching(紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and fear.

The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growing interest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves. I stuck the picture of the young family on our refrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three-year-old Meghan.

“These poor people now have nothing,” I said. “We’ll share what we have with them. I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.

While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up old toys and games.

Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She came to the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.

“Oh, Honey,” I said.” You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.”

Meghan nodded seriously, eyes filled with held-back tears. "Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make that other little girl happy,too.”

The boys had watched,open-mouthed,as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box.

I looked my children for a long moment.