2 . When the phone finally stopped ringing and the house lay still with grief, I filled my home with the sweet smell of peach pie to mask the scent of worry that still lingered.

The weekend after Dad’s diagnosis (诊断), Mom had sent the same text to each concerned relative and friend: Jay was diagnosed with Pick’s disease. We are going back to the doctor for more information. Then Mom put down the phone, rubbed her forehead, and suggested that we go for a drive. On the interstate, we passed a board with clear red letters: “Fredericksburg peaches, the best fruit you can find in Central Texas.” Mom went to negotiate with the stand owner.

Now in our kitchen, the sweet smell of peach juice drifted into the living room and pulled Dad away from the football game on TV.

“Oh! You got peaches?” He eyed the fruit with childish glee (欢快).

“Here,” I handed him a knife. “We’re making peach pie.”

I showed him how to peel the skin off. As I made pie dough, he asked questions: How long does it take to bake? Are you adding sugar? How many peaches? What should I do with the seeds? Showing him how to slice and measure and mix in a calm, firm voice, I suddenly felt grown up.

The summer had reversed our roles; now, I was the adult. I stayed home all summer and cooked his dinner, washed his T-shirts and helped him make phone calls. I stayed up late thinking about him and monitored him like an anxious caretaker.

The same day, before the afternoon drive and peach pie, I had held my tears as I read the diagnosis for Pick’s disease: four to ten years, depending on how fast the damaged proteins overpower Dad’s brain. I decided then that I would be grateful for just four more years with Dad, enough for him to see me become an adult for real.

3 . Meeting and getting acquainted (熟悉的) with new friends can be challenging.     1     However, if you are connected with intellectual (智力的) interests, it will be easier for you to make smart friends. The following are some useful tips that may help you meet intellectually excellent friends.

    2     When you hope to meet smart friends, it's important to identify what kind of interest you're searching for. For example, some individuals have a good knowledge of cooking or community volunteering. After you identify what you need, join the group among new people to learn from them and develop the interests.

Expand (拓展) your professional circles.     3     If you are working in a company without intellectual persons, why not join a club of your field or discussion group related to your profession? For example, if you are working in IT industry and would like to make smart friends involved, join a group related to IT to meet with industry elite (精英).

Invite new persons to social activities. Once you meet with a new person, make an effort to develop a friendship by inviting the person to join in some daily activities, such as having coffee, talking a walk, having lunch or playing tennis.     4    

Arrange group events together with smart individuals. This works well with groups that share common interests, such as artistic creation, scientific research, or literature appreciation.     5     If you do so, you are likely to make more social connections with a wider variety of intellectual individuals.

4 . Desperate to help his 96-year-old mother to speak her mother tongue again, Keith McDermott made an appeal on social media and was met with a flood of kind responses. The old lady, Ray, was moved to tears after talking on the phone with one of the enthusiastic respondents in Welsh.

Ray moved to America after meeting her husband when she was only 18, hence waving goodbye to her life in Wales. She continued to speak Welsh with her mum-keeping a little bit of home. But she lost her beloved mum four decades ago and hadn't spoken Welsh ever since.

Despite suffering from short-term memory loss and sometimes not remembering what she has done recently, Ray's childhood memories in Wales remain clear. “She wants to return but I know, given her age, such long-distance travel is out of the question.” said Keith, “Once she mentioned ‘I wish I could speak Welsh again but I suppose I never will.’ It was then that I thought I should make her wish happen.”

So Keith, 70, posted on social media in the New York Welsh area asking for any Welsh speakers that could speak Welsh with his mum. And he was touched, as well as a little shocked, to receive over 30 responses within half an hour. Keith thanked everyone and eventually asked Melisa to give his mum a phone call. “Speaking with Melisa, her (Ray's) Welsh was a little rusty. A few more Welsh conversations and I think she'd be fluent again,” added Keith.

“When you have a parent in their nineties, you will find you two have something in common: you're both old, so I am very sympathetic to my mother's feelings of loneliness and isolation (孤立). I'm feeling it myself.” Keith hopes to set up more Welsh phone conversations for his mum and Melisa has promised to send Ray some short stories in Welsh to remind her of her life in Wales.

5 . Rosie Colucci’s medical history is filled with a series of thunderstruck numbers: 3 rare and life-threatening diseases—an inoperable brain tumor(肿瘤), neurofibromatosis and hydrocephalus—countless medications, including six types of chemotherapy(化疗); 14 brain surgeries, mainly to implant catheters to keep fluid from gathering on her brain, a result of the hydrocephalus; 16 other surgeries and 230 tests; 405 clinic visits; 1,486 doses of chemotherapy; 71 nights in the hospital; 33 emergency room visits; and 11 stays in the ICU.

Another number: Rosie’s age—14. An official cancer diagnosis came when she was little. After a decade of being sick, the teenager would much rather focus on some different numbers.

Take 60,000—that’s how many new toys, games and blankets she’s helped get into the hands of hospitalized kids. She’s also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for pediatric cancer research. Rosie increases her toy giveaways around the holidays but gives them out year round.

It didn’t sit well with her as a kid learning to share that so many people gave her stuffed animals and toys, while other kids hospitalized with equally serious diseases weren’t seeing the same gifts.

Rosie works tirelessly on Rosie’s Toy Box, a charitable organization she came up with, which now is on the path toward becoming a registered nonprofit, drawing hundreds of donated toys for hospitalized kids.

“I wanted to de-emphasize the expecting of gifts and asking for gifts, and I just wanted to give her a sense of giving rather than always receiving,” Cathy Reichl, her mother, said, “I hope it’s something that stays with her as she grows, and I think it will be—the realization that not everyone has what you have, some people have struggles with their health and we could just use something to brighten their days.”

8 . Life offers its fair share of challenges. At any given time, anyone can face difficult sea- sons in their life. It is true for you. When you're experiencing difficulty, it's always helpful to have a support system to get through it.     1    Knowing this, there are a few ways you can become supportive of a family member who is in the midst of a struggle.

Offer legal resources. If you have family members who are in trouble with the law, you can offer assistance by pointing in the direction of various legal resources, You can even decide to cover a part of their legal fees in court.     2    

Provide encouragement. When people are down on their luck, it's really easy for them to get discouraged and give up. Instead, it's a wise move to offer words of encouragement to the person. Always remind them that they're strong, capable and more powerful than they realize.    3    

Be a safe place. Sometimes, people struggle because they don't feel any love or support from anyone around them.     4    Be their light in the dark places. This can do so much for someone who is carrying a lot on the inside.

    5    You never want to make a person feel like they can't make it without you in their life. If you're allowing the family member to live with you for a certain period of time, be strict about what needs to happen during that time. Make sure that they develop a plan, time line and measured action steps that can help them get back on their feet.