1 . People say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That _________ comes to me as I _________the house purchased in 1962 by my parents. My mother passed away in 1996. My father left the house _________my sister and me when he died a few months ago.

After Dad was_________, we looked around the_________house where we grew up and that Dad loved so much. At first we feel so _________at all the stuff left. Like so many of their generation, my parents _________everything. And like many in my generation, we faced anxious _________about what to abandon and what to keep.

As we started throwing out old phone books and every medical bill from every_________my parents ever saw, I also__________many hidden treasures. Mom’s pocketbook was in their bedroom closet, which had everything in it, __________ her hairbrush with hair, as if she were still here. And Dad, who was a World War II veteran(退伍兵)and a world traveler, __________ everything-from little spoons from all over the world to every letter he wrote to his parents while in the__________. The letters he wrote during the war__________his thoughts as a young man. Later, in the basement, I__________our old kitchen table, which brought back __________of my parents and sister and me having breakfast together.

I’m realizing all these things__________my parents’ life journey. Each time I go to the __________, I find something that reminded me of my childhood or teaches me something about my parents I __________knew.__________, from the shabby furniture to all the hidden treasures, means more to me than all the money in the world.

The Appalachian Trail attracts thousands of serious hikers each spring, only one in four hikers completes the entire trail.

The Sutton family recently finished hiking the entire trail. They are a unique trio (三人组) as their son Harvey turned five on the trail, which makes him the youngest to complete the Appalachian Trail. Josh and Carrie Sutton said they needed to take, breaks from busy work called mini-retirements. “We set the family goal of living a life with extraordinary stories. Doing things like hiking with a child on the Appalachian Trail gives you extraordinary stories,” Josh Sutton said.

When Harvey turned three, they took him winter camping, and by the time he was four, the family completed a 50-mile hike, camping over six days. Seeing that Harvey developed a passion for hiking, they planned a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. Hiking from end to end is called a thru-hike and generally takes five to seven months to complete.

They hit the trail in Georgia on January 13, 2021. The first weeks were cold. The trail was icy and snow-covered, and the weather was often cloudy and bitter, so they made slow progress. They would wake up early each day, pack their gear (装备), and then start walking. As they had many miles to cover each day, they had to be inventive and started using imagination and Skittles (彩虹糖) as incentive for little Harvey.

The family completed their journey on August 9, 2021. Little Harvey learned to count all the way to 2,193, the total miles his little feet traveled, and a big number for someone who just started kindergarten. “I will do it again because like it so much,” said Harvey.

Although the Suttons are now back home, they have incredible memories of this mini-retirement. The journey is a life-changing experience for the Sutton family and is an inspiration for families who dream of taking a similar journey.

Yesterday my parents were heading off on a little holiday and I took them to the train station, the rain was pouring down.

I got their luggage out, helped them get to the elevator and sent them on their way. As I was walking back to the parking lot, I saw an elderly man walking slowly toward the bus station. Obviously, he had no umbrella. I walked over and asked him where he was going. It turned out that he was heading to the same town as I was, just a 15-minute drive. I offered him a lift which he gratefully accepted.

We had a lovely chat on the way and I learned some of his history. He was 87 and heading to the nursing home he had just put his beloved wife in last week. He had his driving license taken away last year so he had to take public transport every day. A tear fell down his cheek as he told me about his wife. I tried to hold back my own tears but failed.

As I dropped him off at the entrance of the nursing home, I gave him the bunch of flowers I had in the car which I had given to my mom on Mother’s Day. I would much rather see the flowers indulged in by him and his wife than just take them back home. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he thanked me gratefully. As I made my way back to my car, I totally lost control of my emotions and cried like a baby. I just felt that all the stars shone for some reason and I was meant to meet him today. I was very glad to be able to help him in some way.

5 . “Do you want to pick up your rocking chair?” A text message from a former colleague woke me from my daydreams when I was sitting in my grandpa’s oak chair having coffee.

For 17 years, I taught grade one and two, and my dreams as a teacher were tied to that rocking chair. It was a magical idea to have it in my class. Every day after breaks, the class would gather around and listen to the story I was reading. When the kids were close, they found the courage to share their stories, dreams and fears. The chair was part of my job, part of me.

Unfortunately, I became unwell and couldn’t keep teaching. I experienced severe depression and anxiety and was forced to leave the job. With my life as a teacher over, I needed a new path. And I didn’t have to look far.

My husband and I adopted one of my former students in 2017. The arduous work of parenting a child who came to us at 9 years old changed our lives in unexpected ways. It called on the part of me that learns to be a good mother. We spent countless hours snuggling up (依偎) with books-healing, bonding and solidifying our family. This gave me a new purpose.

I joined a support group of local moms. For about a year, I met with them weekly for walks or coffee.

We came together to share. Then I started giving and receiving help. I gave driving practice to a single mom with her learner’s license and received emotional support in return. I also took her son on hikes around the city. Another woman encouraged me to buy a stand-up board and gave me lessons on surfing.

My family, my books, finding a new purpose and belonging in a community — these are fulfilling the sense of self I used to prize as a teacher. I learned my identity doesn’t need to change. I’m still honoring those core values whether or not I’m working as a teacher.

And what about that rocking chair? I looked back at the text message. My answer was no, I do not need the chair. I’ll let it go to a new teacher.

6 . As I sat motionless on the steps of the pool, watching everyone else swim back and forth, I ________ that I had spent most of my life watching others enjoy themselves. It was then that I noticed a little girl staring at me with a look of ________. I smiled at her, hoping to break the ice by talking to her. Unfortunately, my ________ failed and she just kept on staring. My ________ increased as a little boy swam up to me and said, “I feel sorry for you.”

After the ________, a thought ________ me—I had to change how the world viewed me. Because it was children who stared at me the most, I decided to write a children’s book that taught them about ________ in a fun way. This is when KatGirl, a superhero in a wheelchair who helps children that are being bullied (欺凌), came into my mind.

I quickly wheeled inside my apartment and began creating the story. ________ I wrote each word, I could ________ my future as a world-renowned author and public speaker. My excitement ________ like wildfire. Over the next two years, the story ________ many changes before it saw the world in the spring of 2011. My perseverance ________ paid off.

One day I was invited to speak to the students at a neighboring school. I wheeled ________ into a classroom filled with students who ________ at me just like the little girl in the pool. “How do you feel when you see me?” I asked them. The kids bravely ________, “I feel sorry for you.”

I opened my book and started reading. Immediately I noticed the children’s stares turned to ________. “How do you feel when you see me?” I asked again. Without ________ they replied, “You are so cool! Does your ________ fly too?” I just smiled, “No, not yet, but may be some day.” I knew in my heart that this was ________. The past two years had proven to me that with ________ anything is possible.

I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids and threw jump shots over their heads. The boys always tried to stop her, but never could.

I began to notice her at other times, on that same blacktop (柏油路), playing alone — sometimes until dark. One day, I asked her why she practiced so much. Without a moment of hesitation, she said: “The only way I can go to college is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. If I’m good enough, I can get a scholarship.”

She was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. But one time in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, her head cradled in her arms. Quietly, I asked what was wrong. “I am just too short,” came a soft reply. The coach told her that, at 5’5” (about 165 cm), she would probably never get to play for a top-ranked team — much less offered a scholarship.

She was heartbroken. I asked her to talk to her dad about it. Her father told her that those coaches were wrong — they just did not understand the power of a dream. Nothing could stop her, except one thing: her own attitude. He told her, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”

The next year, when she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was noticed by a college recruiter. She was indeed offered a scholarship to a women’s basketball team. She finally got what she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years. And that little girl ended up having more playing time than any other woman in the history of the university.

During her junior year of college, her father – her hero, died. The following years were hard for her. The grief she felt over the loss of her father was always there. She struggled daily with fear, doubt, and frustration. However, every time she wanted to quit, she remembered her father’s last words: “Rachel, keep dreaming. Don’t let your dream die. If the dream is big enough, you can do anything!”

She completed her degree. It took her six years, but she didn’t give up. She can still be found sometimes as the sun is setting, bouncing a basketball. And often I hear her tell others, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”

When I told my father that I was moving to Des Moines, Iowa, he told me about the only time he had been there. It was in the 1930s, when he was an editor of the literary magazine of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. He also worked as a professor at SMU, and there was a girl student in his class who suffered from a serious back disease. She couldn’t afford the operation because her family was poor.

Her mother ran a boarding house in Galveston, a seaside town near Houston, Texas. She was cleaning out the attic (阁楼) one day when she came across an old dusty manuscript (手稿). On its top page were the words, “By O. Henry”. It was a nice story, and she sent it to her daughter at SMU, who showed it to my father. My father had never read the story before, but it sounded like O. Henry, and he knew that O. Henry had once lived in Houston. So, it was possible that the famous author had gone to the beach and stayed in the Galveston boarding house, and had written the story there and left the manuscript behind by accident. My father visited an O. Henry expert at Columbia University in New York, who authenticated the story as O. Henry’s.

My father then set out to sell it. Eventually, he found himself in Des Moines, meeting with Gardner Cowles, a top editor at the Des Moines Register. Cowles loved the story and bought it on the spot. My father took the money to the girl. It was just enough for her to have the operation she so desperately needed.

My father never told me what the O. Henry story was about. But I doubt that it could have been better than his own story.