1 . In June 1985, two British mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made the first-ever climb of the West Face of the 21,000 foot snow-covered Siula Grande mountain in Peru. It was exceptionally tough — but nothing compared to what was to come. Early in the descent (斜坡), Simpson fell and broke his right knee. Yates could have abandoned him but managed to find a way of lowering him down the mountain in a series of difficult drops blinded by snow and cold. Then Simpson fell into a crevasse (冰隙) and Yates eventually had no choice but to cut the rope, utterly convinced that his friend was now dead.

In his subsequent book on the climb entitled “Touching The Void”, Joe Simpson wrote: “As I gazed at the distant moraines (冰碛石), I knew that I must at least try. I would probably die out there amid those rocks. The thought didn’t alarm me. It seemed reasonable, matter-of-fact. That was how it was. I could aim for something. If I died, well, that wasn’t so surprising, but I wouldn’t have just waited for it to happen. The horror of dying no longer affected me as it had in the crevasse. I now had the chance to confront it and struggle against it. My leg would hurt when I fell and when I couldn’t get up I would die.”

The survival of Simpson himself was extraordinary. That somehow found a way of climbing out of the crevasse after 12 hours and then dragged himself six miles back to camp, going three days and nights without food or drink, would be the stuff of heroic fiction if it was not so true. Indeed, six operations and two years later, he was even back climbing. All because, against all the odds, he tried.

4 . Szczecin, an ancient city in northwestern Poland, has plenty to offer to visitors. Without doubt, the Pomeranian Duke’s Castle and Kasprowicza Park are two of its most popular tourist attractions, but when it comes to online reviews, both pale in comparison to a fat cat named Gacek.

Gacek, whose name means “long-eared bat” in Polish, has nearly 2,600 reviews, more than any other attraction in Szczecin. According to a local woman, Gacek first appeared on Kaszubska Street in downtown Szczecin about 10 years ago. He stuck around and people started feeding him, so from a skinny feline (猫科动物), he soon turned into a thick-fleshed boy, which only made him more adorable. The cat rose to fame in 2020, after a local news site featured it in a video that then went viral on social media, and people have been showering him with positive reviews ever since.

Also known as the “King of Kaszubska Street”, Gacek, the city’s online influencer, now lives in a roofed wooden box outside a shop on Kaszubska Street, and even though he doesn’t technically have an owner, the people who run the shop act as his caretakers. There is a sign outside his house that tells passers-by to leave whatever treats they have for the cat in a sealed (密封的) container and not to pet him when he’s sleeping. Most people who posted a review awarded the feline the maximum 5 stars, making him the top-rated tourist attraction in the city. Most of those who have interacted with Gacek claim that he is a “fantastically handsome and superb fellow”.

But Gacek does have a few one-star reviews, mostly from people who criticize his caretaker or express worry about his weight. Some even complained that he scratched (抓伤) their hands or stole a sausage. “Gacek seems to have become their envy now,” a citizen jokingly commented.

5 . As ninety approached, many things had changed for Mom except one: She wanted a big birthday party. But because of a fractured (断裂的) hip just 3 weeks before, we could only arrange a small one at the rehab (康复中心) instead of giving her a big celebration in a restaurant.

Mom’s husband, Fred, was also in the facility, admitted to the dementia (痴呆) unit prior to her admission. Mom visited him a few times each week, but these visits distressed her because he was usually asleep and did not respond to her. She often left in tears and was sad for days.

On the day of the party, we decorated the dining room with balloons, and a sheet cake was decorated in her favorite colour. Surrounded by her loved ones, Mom was overwhelmed with happiness. Only one other person could have made this day happier: Fred, her husband of thirty years. Because the party was held in the nursing facility, we had taken him to the party, too. When an attendant brought him into the room, Mom shouted with joy. We positioned them side by-side in their wheelchairs. He sat there with his eyes closed, unresponsive, and the party went on.

A short time later, there was a buzz in the room: “Fred’s awake!” And he was! Mom spoke to him, and he responded. He said, “I love you.” He ate the birthday cake and ice cream. He stayed for the rest of the party. After I sent him back to his nursing unit, the remaining guests were still talking about Fred and his miraculous awakening, just in time to share his wife’s ninetieth birthday. Mom was very happy, crying that his presence was the best gift of all.

God works in strange ways. We were able to give Mom a lovely celebration after all, and with her husband at her side, a happy birthday indeed.

6 . In 2000, all my family were coming back from a T-ball game. Unlike every other weekend, a surprise was waiting for us in our driveway—two adult geese and a small goose. Obviously startled by our return, the adults flew away in panic, with their baby left behind.

Hours passed before night eventually fell. It was apparent that the small goose needed protection, warmth and food to make it to the morning. We brought him to our backyard. Each morning, we would try to drive the small goose away to his parents, who kept coming back to our yard. He wouldn’t go to them, though, and neither would they come close enough to take him back. Realizing the young goose had clearly decided we were his family by then, we gave him a name, calling the little guy Peeper.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Before we knew it, the little creature had grown into a big bird with two powerful wings. One day, when my dad threw Peeper into the air, he just flew away and didn’t come back. With night falling, all of us became increasingly worried. We looked for him, called his name and anxiously expected his return. But he never appeared again. It took a long time before we accepted the fact that he was missing. We could only pray he found his parents and went off on his natural way.

I was thrilled to see when, in 2019, an adult goose made his way back to my family home. He did all of the same things Peeper used to do! Much to my amazement, he even responded to the name Peeper. It became clear to me that my old best friend had returned many years later.

This experience has been as meaningful to me as anything in my life. Looking beyond our reach high in the sky, birds have feelings like human beings, so do many other living things. We human beings should learn to get along with them. We need each other’s care and protection for a better world.

7 . When counting down the days until homecoming, some women choose to track paydays, school days, or Mondays. Me? I always counted trash days. Each time I rolled the green, heavy bin down the driveway, I considered it one of the most intolerable jobs of a Navy wife.

Occasionally, a neighbor would take pity on me and replace my trashcan back to the side of the house after the garbage men were done with it. And once, when I had maggots in the bottom of the bin, a few men from the neighborhood were nice enough to dispose of them and Clorox, the trashman, did not tell me about the whole incident until a year later.

“It takes a village to do Sarah’s trash,” one neighbor, Stanford, joked. “And sometimes it also takes a village to change Sarah’s flat tire, to kill big bugs in her living room, and to fetch her son’s toy airplane that landed on the roof.” Hearing his words, I wondered if I wasn’t being strong enough and if I shouldn’t take my title of “Navy dependent” so literally as to mean I was, well, dependent.

“Don’t be silly,” my neighbors would say. “We’re glad to help.” More than hanging a flag from their doors, they said helping a Navy family made them feel like they were doing their part.

Surprisingly to me, despite doing my lawn every week and occasionally my trash and home repairs, these neighbors often told me I was far from “dependent”. Instead of focusing on the things I was not doing myself, my neighbors were in awe at the things I had done alone. And most of these things (caring for sick babies in the middle of the night, dealing with emergencies), I had done without my realizing it or giving myself credit.

I learned that being strong and independent doesn’t necessarily mean doing it all. There are few people who can do everything themselves. Most people are eager to offer help, which they think rewarding. So don’t decline help.

8 . A girl of 12 has raised more than £8,000 for a cancer charity by running three kilometres every day for a year in honour of her grandad. Emily Talman, of Birkenhead, Merseyside, was inspired by the Daily Mirror’s “Pride of Britain Awards” to take on the challenge. She started running on November 8 last year after Grandad Pete Talman recovered from prostate (前列腺) cancer.

Emily said she did it for all grandads. She added: “I remember watching the ‘Pride of Britain Awards’ last year, when my grandad was better, and I wanted to do something to help other families who are going through what we did.”

Pete, 69, was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. He had successful surgery to remove his prostate the following July. “My grandad always told me, ‘Never give up, never give in’ and that’s what I’ve told myself during my challenge. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to still have him in my life.”

Emily had to face all weather for her runs. But she said thinking about families who have lost loved ones to cancer kept her going. The determined schoolgirl, who has three sisters, added, “I always think about the people who can’t be with their grandad, dad, uncle, or brother because of prostate cancer.”

Liverpool fan Emily even made time on Christmas Day and her 12th birthday on August 15 for her runs. She plans to “have a little break from running” but hopes to complete 100 more days every year in the future to keep spreading awareness of prostate cancer.

Parents Ricky Talman and Stacey Williams told of their pride in her. Ricky said, “It was a tough challenge but she’s just been a warrior and everyone in the family is so proud of her.”

9 . My zodiac sign (生肖) is horse.I live in a small town in Yunnan on the historic Tea Horse Road. I remember when I was very young, old people told me about the horse-carriage traders who had traveled that trail for centuries, carrying tea, silks, ivory, and other goods to markets as far away as India. There was usually a head horse leading the way.

My family has lived in my hometown of Xizhou for many generations. I have to admit that when I first heard that Paul Salopek was going to walk the entire globe on his own two feet without any modern transportation, I was blown away. I couldn’t imagine that there could be such an unusual person in the world. So it was even more surprising when one day last May, I found myself buying a standing-room ticket on a high-speed train to Shanghai to meet him.

Paul told me it was his first time in China. He talked to me with excitement about the history and discovery in my region of China. One would cross a thousand oceans and climb a thousand mountains to meet people one is destined to meet, a Chinese saying goes. I think destiny brought me Paul. I finally made my biggest decision. I would try my best to accompany Paul for hundreds of miles on his walk toward my home of Yunnan.

On September 28, we finally set out. We woke up at sunrise and rested at sunset. Nature does not hurry. We climbed a lot of mountains, only to reach yet another mountain; we crossed a lot of rivers, only to reach yet another river. We met many people on the road, many beautiful souls, simple souls, warm souls, decent souls. I came to an unexpected realization. Walking for its own sake, while healthy and admirable, is only a small part of the benefit. A deeper reward is rediscovering the world around us, shortening the distance between each other, and sharing each other’s cultures.

10 . Sydney Raley has been working at McDonald’s for about seven months and it’s been her typical after-school job. When she headed into her weekend shift on Saturday, December 18, she likely expected to do more of the same: Stand at the drive-through window, take orders over the headset, and hand each customer their meal with a smile.

In fact, that’s exactly how it started. But a few hours into her shift, things took a dramatic turn. After handing a customer some of their food, Sydney let them know that more would be coming as soon as it was ready. But just seconds later, she noticed a terrible look of panic spread across the woman’s face. Then came the coughing. She was coughing like crazy. Her daughter in the passenger seat looked terrified.

Sydney immediately knew she was choking. For an instant, Sydney remembered the first aid training she had received more than four years earlier. Most 15-year-olds might panic at the sight of this (even most adults might, too). But not Sydney. Instead, the teen remained calm and quickly shouted to both her manager and the woman’s daughter to call 911. Then, she drove through the drive-through window and came to the rescue.

The teen flung the driver’s side door open and got the choking woman to her feet. Then she began to use the Heimlich maneuver(海姆立克急救法). However, she had never actually had to use the life-saving technique before, and after a few tries, it wasn’t quite working. Luckily, another customer was just a few feet away in the parking lot. She shouted for help, hoping that another person’s strength combined with hers, would help force whatever was in the woman’s mouth to finally come out. Next, a man who heard the call for help ran over and started using Heimlich with the woman. Fortunately, it worked and the woman spat out the food stuck in her throat. Needless to say, the woman was very grateful. Just as she began to catch her breath, first responders arrived on the scene, and when officers asked what happened, she told them all about Sydney’s heroic act. “They said, ‘Congratulations, you’re a lifesaver; you’re a hero.’” Sydney recalled.