The moment my son Joe knew I was going to have another baby, he tried his best to stay out of our lives. By the time our daughter Molly was due to be born, I had grown accustomed to his embarrassment and animosity (敌意). I had grown accustomed to a lot of things, not the least of which was having an unexpected child at the age of thirty-nine. My husband, to his eternal credit, was delighted. Throughout it all, Joe rarely spoke to me, except to say, “You don’t have to come to my school,” and — after a marathon baby naming conference—“Call her Molly, the name of my friend’s dog.”

When Molly finally arrived, tiny, quiet and perfect, four family arms were there to draw her close. But Joe’s remained tightly crossed over his chest, on the far side of the hospital room I signed to him to come closer but he shook his head slightly. I could see him standing there, arms still folded, staring straight ahead.

Joe stayed away at a friend’s cottage when Molly and I came home from the hospital. He was still gone ten days later when I took our daughter for her first check-up. He arrived home just as I was coming back, tears streaming down my face. “The doctor thinks she might have a hearing problem,” I sobbed. “She’s too quiet she’s not responding like she should. We have to have her tested.”

As my husband comforted me, downplaying my worry, I noticed that Joe had stopped beside the baby, sound asleep in her car seat. He reached out to her, shifting her slightly away from a bump (隆起) in the carpet. “She’s okay,” he said, looking down at her. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s just little.”

Three months later as I walked the floor at 4:00 A. M. with a crying and inconsolable (难以安抚的) (and otherwise perfectly healthy) baby in my arms, I dragged myself into Joe’s room and woke him up “Joe, could you take her? Just for a few minutes? I can’t settle her down, Dad’s on business, and I just really need a break.”

Saying nothing, Joe took his little sister from me.

Seeing Molly sleeping peacefully in Joe’s bed, I walked out, followed by Joe.

You never know where life will lead you. When I was a young boy. I found myself constantly overshadowed by my elder sister, Becky. It was not her intention to outshine me, nor did she make any effort to do so. However, with Becky exceling both academically and athletically, it was only natural that her accomplishments got all the attention, while my own achievements went unnoticed. Being the younger brother of someone who effortlessly excelled in all areas of life proved to be a big challenge, as I struggled to find my own identity under her brilliance.   

Becky’s talent in swimming was particularly noteworthy and she was recognized as the finest swimmer in our province. Yet, the swimming pool never attracted me. Even as a child, I developed a dislike for swimming after a rather unpleasant experience of water entering my nose. Swimming was not for me.

However, fate had its own way of transforming my life. One day, I fell off my skateboard and broke my leg so badly that the doctors said I could never really engage in the sport again. They said there was only one exercise that would be good for me-swimming!

Reluctantly, I decided to give swimming a try. At first, it was a struggle. I had a lot of fear and anxiety about putting my face in the water, fearing a repeal of the incident that had scarred me as a child. But little by little, with the support and guidance of my sister, I slowly overcame my fear and learned to enjoy swimming.

As I spent more time in the water, I realized that swimming wasn’t just exercise; it was a way to challenge myself and push my limits. I began to set goals for myself, starting with simple tasks like swimming a certain distance without stopping, and gradually progressing to more advanced techniques. With each achievement, my confidence grew, and I found myself becoming more comfortable in the water.

Swimming also brought me closer to Becky. We spent hours together at the pool, motivating and encouraging each other. She became my trainer, helping me improve my technique and providing me with valuable advice. It was through swimming that we developed a deeper bond as siblings (兄弟姐妹).

As the years went by, I started participating in local swimming competitions.

Today, as I reflect on my journey, I am grateful for the twist of fate that led me to professional swimming.

It was the afternoon before Christmas Eve as I looked tiredly at my youngest daughter Kitty’s wish list for her presents. Major dental surgery (牙科手术) two days earlier had left my face painfully swollen (肿胀的), and most surely influenced my holiday spirit.

To make matters worse, Kitty had provided me with the world’s least helpful list: “Something red. Something old. Something you can put things in. Something strange ...”

After completing the important shopping of lots of food necessary for a big family gathering the next day, I was just quite tired and impatient. But no matter how hard it was to please my youngest daughter, I couldn’t let her down. Then her older sister Helen came up with the solution. The local antique store was sure to have something that fitted Kitty’s wish list. Owned by an extremely nice couple, the place was packed with valuable things and also not-so-valuable ones.

Surely, it was the last place where I wanted to go. Three years before, I had rushed out of the place in tears after selling them my grandmother’s silver forks and spoons and most importantly my valued ballet-dancer doll. That year had been difficult, and though I told myself that they were only things, it hurt to trade my remaining valued things, especially my ballet-dancer doll, for common things such as electricity and food. The shame of crying in public over it only made matters worse. Since that year, I had never visited that store.

After this long period of time and with a greatly swollen face, I thought it was unlikely that the owners of the store would recognize me. And, sure enough, the place offered gifts for every possible taste.

So in the afternoon before Christmas Eve, wearing a hat, I left home together with Helen to the antique store to pick up the gifts that Kitty wanted. Before long, we arrived at the store. While walking and choosing the gift there, I wondered, “What if the owners recognize me?”

So I pulled down the edge of my hat to hide my face.

And the owner held out my old ballet-dancer doll, adding, “It’s our Christmas present to you.”

Garden of Discovery

I was kneeling outside in my garden, pulling weeds in the bright sun, when a voice suddenly said, “What are you doing?”

I looked up. Looking over the fence was the boy who had just moved with his family into the house behind ours. “Don’t you hate getting dirty?” he said.

I laughed. “No, I don’t mind.” I stood up. “Hi, I’m Jeanie.”

“Mike,” he replied.

I saw him looking at my garden. “I’m getting ready to plant tomatoes, potatoes,” I said. “Also beans and...”

Mike interrupted. “Why go to all this trouble when you can buy vegetables at the store?”

“It’s fun,” I replied. “I bet you’d enjoy gardening if you tried it. All boys like gardening.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he said.

I smiled. “Work with me for a week. If you still don’t like it by then, I’ll never talk about it.

To my surprise he nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

Before I knew it, the week was up. I was sure that Mike had changed his mind about gardening. He no longer complained about getting dirty! Each time he planted a seed, he would say, “I hope you grow big and make Jeanie and me proud of you.”

On the last day, Mike and I worked until the sun had set.

“That’s it,” I said, standing up. “Everything’s planted.”

Silently Mike rose, too. “The week’s up,” I said. I smiled at Mike, confident that he was going to tell me that gardening wasn’t so bad after all.

For a moment he didn’t say anything. Suddenly he said, “I’m glad that’s over. Don’t forget our deal—no more garden talk. See you.” Then he ran into his own yard. I stared after him in disbelief.

I went to bed. Around midnight a crash of thunder woke me up. Outside there was a terrible storm. I worried about my plants until the rain finally ended, and I fell back asleep.

The next morning I jumped out of bed, eager to see my garden. I pictured in my mind broken plants and flooded rows of seeds.

“It’s about time for you to get here,” said a voice as I pushed open the back door.

“I can’t believe what you’re doing after what you said last night,” I said.

Although it’s been almost two years now, I can still remember that day as if it were yesterday. We were all glued in front of the television, when Dad came rushing into the house after work to tell us that he had just bought a new boat. He promised us that the following week he’d take us all on a fishing trip. We were all very excited and happy at the prospect of it.

The much-awaited day finally came. After we packed everything onto the boat, Dad started the engine and steered it slowly out of the harbour. We headed out until we were a good distance from the shore. Then, when we found what seemed like a good spot for fishing, Dad stopped the engine.

The sky was crystal clear and the sea was as calm as a sheet of glass. We spent a good couple of hours bathing in the sun, fishing rods in hands, without a care in the world. It was fantastic just being there, staring out at the beautiful blue sea. We caught a good number of fish.

We must have lost track of time, chatting and laughing, because the next thing I remembered was being put into a darkness which was so thick that one could almost cut it with a knife. Looking around, it was all pitch-black. Then, out of nowhere, a big wave came crushing into the boat, nearly overturning us all overboard. If that wasn’t bad enough, we could hear the rumbling (隆隆声) of thunder in the distance—it was unbelievable how the weather had changed so quickly before our very own eyes. The storm was rolling up on us fast and it wasn’t long before the rain started to come down in showers. The rain was so dense and heavy that we could barely breathe.

Dad immediately rushed to start the engine but it would not start.

Suddenly, we started to hear what seemed like the sound of a helicopter approaching.

I had a trip to New Mexico last year, a trip I still remember very well to this day. I went to a place called Philmont and attended a summer camp. There were thirteen people including me. The entire 10-day hike we took through those mountains went well, except for the second day, because of the terrible weather.

It had been a nice sunny day up until we were halfway to the camp we were staying at that night. Then without a word it started raining gently. There was nothing too bad and certainly nothing we couldn’t handle. We put our raincoats on and continued on our way. It stayed raining slightly for a while, so I decided it would be a good idea to say, “Well, it can’t be much worse than this, right?” And in less than five seconds the thunder crashed around us. It almost sounded like a laugh, as if it was laughing at us. Then the rain started to come down harder, and then, the hail (冰雹) came.

Getting hit with balls of ice in the middle of the New Mexico mountains was not something I had ever thought would happen to us, but here we were. All thirteen of us were wishing at that moment that we could go home. But we quickly abandoned the idea. It was freezing, and my feet felt like they might fall off. Wet, cold, and carrying 40 pounds on our backs, we hiked on.

But soon enough we got lost for about a mile because of a mistake that our “Navi-guesser” made on getting us to our destination. At the same time, one of our boys got a minor case of hypothermia (低温症). We decided to stop for a while, unpacking our tents to get into a nice warm sleeping bag. I don’t know if you know this, but unpacking camping gear (装备) in the rain was not very fun, especially setting up a tent.

We came up with a solution.

The rain stopped just as we were about to start.