1 . When I first met Sarah, all I noticed was her drool (口水) running from the corner of her mouth. As Mrs. Wagner pushed the wheelchair towards me, I felt _________. Why did she sit beside me?

For the entire morning, I was uneasy. Eventually, I nerved _________ to ask Mrs. Wagner, “Mrs. Wagner, can I have my _________ changed?”

She patted (拍) my shoulder gently and said, “Natalie, Sarah _________ our care. Try it.”

Why? I didn’t need a deskmate with running drool! I decided to _________ Sarah, at three o’clock, our _________ teacher came and said, “Kickball time! Put on your gym shoes.” As I bent (弯腰) over to tie my shoes, Sarah caught my attention and I wondered _________ it feels to never walk. My _________ felt tight.

Mrs. Wagner asked me, “Natalie, _________ Sarah cannot kick, she can throw balls. Would you help her in the gym class?”

I had to __________ and push Sarah to the playground.

Firstly, Matt kicked the ball and it came to me. I handed it to Sarah and she __________ it, which just struck Mike’s heel!

“You got him out!” I shouted. Sarah __________ happily. Then I laughed, too. The rest of the game was __________ and we all enjoyed ourselves.

At the end of the day, Sarah read a journal entry to us, “My __________ day of school went well. I had fun playing kickball. I made a nice new friend, Natalie.”

Sarah __________ at me. I didn’t notice her drool. What I saw was a new friend, a friend I had almost missed.

2 . In 2017, besides a full-time job, I also coached two basketball teams. I remember the days when we had a quick meal in the car after work and tried to figure out which soccer game, basketball game, or family event we were driving towards. We just intentionally created family time to connect with each other.

One day when I finished a playhouse for the kids, three-year-old Matthew came and asked to help. “Sorry, kid, but I’m all done,” I replied. “Oh no...”cried Matthew. Now, any three-year-old crying after missing a project with their dad would be sweet. Crying Matthew looked like a newborn cat, melting a heart of stone. But what could I do? I had finished the project and now I had to disappoint the little boy. Suddenly I realized, “he just wants to do any project with me. Just make one up!”

I caught two pieces of useless wood, “You see this wood here? I need these two pieces of wood to be held together really tight. Can you help me?”

As light smile was on his face, “Yes!”

The result was a pleased little boy whose heart was full. What I saw was two pieces of junk wood. What he saw was the connection with his father. He saw companionship, priority (优先权), worth and a place to belong to.

Parents always think, “I’ll create family time next Saturday.” But you don’t always have to do big things to fill children’s hearts. In fact the simple act of being present means the world to little hearts. Look at that face! Those are the eyes of a little one who received nothing. And everything.

Strange Footprints in the Snow

Tom woke up and looked around. For a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. Then he remembered. He and his sister, Lucy, were visiting Aunt Gwen. Yesterday they spent seven hours helping Aunt Gwen clean her basement. Today they would have time to play.

He looked out of the window. Fresh snow covered the ground. He could hardly wait to go outside. Tom got dressed and hurried downstairs to the kitchen.

“Hi, sleepyhead(贪睡者),” said Aunt Gwen. “Lucy has already eaten her breakfast. She’s outside.”

“That’s where I’m going as soon as I finish breakfast,” Tom said.

A short time later, he zipped up(拉上拉链)his coat, put on his boots, and walked out of the front door. The sun made the snow sparkle. He looked around. He didn’t see his sister, but he saw something else. There were strange footprints left in the snow across Aunt Gwen’s yard.

“They’re far too big to be Lucy’s. They look like they belong to a dinosaur,” Tom said. Then he added, “But that’s silly. Dinosaurs are not around anymore.”

He looked closer: The footprints were the shape of a very large oval(椭圆)with a stem. “Maybe they belong to an elephant or a hippo that escaped from the zoo,” he thought. He held his breath and listened. He didn’t hear anything.

He remembered a book he’d seen earlier on Aunt Gwen’s shelf. It was a book about animal tracks. He dashed inside to get it. The book had pictures of animals and the tracks they made. He turned the pages one by one, but none of the photos looked like the footprints in Aunt Gwen’s yard.

He stared at those footprints again. An animal that made such big tracks would have to be heavy. Its tracks should sink far down into the snow. Yet these footprints seemed to skim across(掠过)the top.

How can that be? He wondered.

Tom noticed something else. The tracks never left Aunt Gwen’s yard. Instead, they turned and went around the house. “Maybe the animal is still here,” he whispered.

Though a little scared, Tom made up his mind to find the animal.

It turned out that his sister was making the sounds.

My Parents

8 . I was with my mom one day as we took a walk while window shopping. We both knew we wouldn’t be buying much.

I remember I was looking up at the people we walked by. Ladies wore five-inch heels and bright clothing. Men wore expensive scents(香水)and creams that might wipe away the wrinkles (皱纹) on their faces. An uneasy feeling started to settle in my chest. I could deny it no longer; I was ashamed of my mother.

We were in a high-class neighborhood-I knew that. We lived in a small, overpriced apartment building at the edge of our county. Mom chose to move there because she knew the schools were good. I realized for the first time that we didn’t belong there.

I could see the heavy lines around mom’s eyes and mouth. She wore cheap clothes and worn-out shoes. Her eyes were tired from working long hours to make ends meet, and her hair was too gray for her age.

My mom is nothing extraordinary, yet at that moment, she stood out because she was just so plain. I didn’ t want to be seen with her, although there was no one important around to see me anyway. I felt embarrassed about being at her side.

We were standing in the middle of a high-end store, and mom was holding a sweater. She said, “This will look good on you. Do you want it?” It was much too expensive, but I almost thoughtlessly answered “yes”. Then I took a closer look at the small, tired woman with a big smile and a sweater in her hands, happy to be giving me something so nice. My words died in my throat.

Her clothes were worn and old because she spent her money buying me new ones. She looked so tired because she was busy working to provide for me. She didn’t wear jewelry or perfume because she was content with spending what little money she had on me.

Suddenly, my mom was beautiful and extraordinarily wonderful in my eyes.

I was no longer ashamed of her, but of myself.

“Do you want it?” my mom repeated.

“No, thanks,” I said.