1 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.

She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9­year­old daughter Bailey.

He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.

Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”

After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.

Sarah Thompson lived at Number Six, Elm Street.She loved living here.The community was warm and friendly. All her friends were around and the smells from the neighboring bakery were sweet! However, one problem emerged — Sarah’s parents planned to move.With her mum expecting twins, they needed an additional bedroom. “This house is too small,” said her mum.The following day, a “For Sale” sign was hung on Sarah’s door, casting a shadow over her and her closest friend Mia.“What should I do, Mia?” said Sarah in low spirits.

Mia frowned (皱眉头). “Has your house got problems? Number fifty’s got problems and no one wants to buy it.” Sarah stared at number fifty.It looked all right to her. “What kind of problems?” she asked.

“Oh, mice and coldness and really horrible wallpaper.” Sarah sighed.Her house was warm and clean and it had just been repainted recently, which was an unfortunate contrast.

Mrs. Green lived next door to Sarah in a big house that had once been a grocery store.Just then, she came out, followed by her cat Whiskers.

“I’m sorry to hear that you’re moving,” Mrs. Green said with sympathy. “So am I,” Sarah grumbled (发牢骚) in response. Mrs. Green offered a comforting pat on Sarah’s arm. “Never mind. Your house might take months to sell.”

However, a few days later, Sarah came home from school and found a man in the living room. His name was Mr. Anderson and he expressed keen interest in buying the house. Sarah’s heart sank when Mr. Anderson said he wanted to come back for a second visit on Sunday morning.

At school, Sarah asked, “Mia. Does your elder brother still work in the fish shop?” Mia nodded. “Good. Listen, I’ve got a job for you...”

Sarah whispered her plan to Mia.

Sarah’s parents got very angry and asked for an explanation.

3 . The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we hadn’t already known. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious about what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I always enjoyed listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and took delight in the attention bestowed (授予) upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet.

I’ll never forget what she taught us.

“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.”

At the end of that year, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

6 . Fighting through pain after running for 28 hours, and amid the sound of tired feet struggling through the Arizona dirt—finally soft, soothing (舒缓的) music could be heard over the horizon. The finish line, which was once 100 miles away, was right in front of him. A small, roaring human victory tunnel welcomed Zach Bates as he ran across the finish line.

Diagnosed with autism (自闭症) at the age of four, Bates completed the 100-mile ultramarathon (超级马拉松) earlier this year, becoming the youngest finisher in the race’s history, aged 19. Bates was a member of the cross-country team in high school but, after graduating he surprised his family with a new goal—to run a 100-mile race before his 20th birthday.

Neither Bates nor his parents had any previous experience in preparing for the task at hand, but Brian, his father, found ways to help, truly making it a family affair. In addition to hiking safe trails, they read books together, organized all his nutrition, and made sure their son had the right equipment—like the watch he wore on long runs so they could track him and make sure he was safe and on course. Rana and Brian even helped with training schedules before finding more experienced ultramarathon runners—such as mentor John Hendrix and coach Nickademus de la Rosa. With Hendrix and de la Rosa’s expertise, the young American prepared by competing in shorter distances and successfully worked his way up to the 100-miler in a short time.

Rather than having his autism be a reason to make the goal unreachable, his mom said the challenge has helped him stay focused. “If we listen to our children and allow them to do what they want to do and be a support to them, you’ll be so surprised at where they’ll end up,” Rana says.

Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.

An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.

“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.

“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”

“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.

Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.

Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.

“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，

“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”

“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”

At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.

But things began to change as she was doing the chores.