Billie Jean was always full of energy (精力)! One morning, Billie Jean’s friend Susan asked her: “Do you want to play tennis? You’ll love it!”

Tennis sounded exciting! That evening, Billie Jean asked her father, “What’s the best sport for a girl?”

Her dad had a think. “Tennis, of course!”

She felt excited. Maybe this “tennis” was the sport for her!

The next weekend, Susan took Billie Jean to the Virginia Country Club. It was a really great place!

There were beautiful gardens and ladies wearing white tennis dresses. She felt quite out of place in her baggy T-shirt and shorts!

But her nervousness disappeared when she got out onto the sunny tennis court (网球场). Susan handed her a strange thing that looked like a net.

“This is a racket (球拍). You hit a ball with it!”

Susan lobbed (发高球) a yellow ball at her. Billie Jean hit her racket as hard as she could. Her friend showed her how tennis should be played. They did their best to hit the ball over the net in the middle of the court. Billie Jean spent more time hitting the air than she did hitting the ball — but she loved playing tennis anyway!

Buying a racket was unaffordable for her family. From that day on, Billie Jean asked people in the neighborhood about any jobs she could do. Finally, Billie Jean bought a little wooden racket.

“Can we go to the Virginia Country Club to play?” she asked.

Her mom said, “We can’t afford it, love. What about the public courts at Houghton Park?”

Billie Jean quickly agreed! When she arrived at the park, she saw an old man waiting by the tennis court.

“I’m Clyde!” he said. “Do you want some tennis lessons?”

Billie Jean was worried. “Yes...but I don’t have any money.”

The man just smiled. “It’s free! Come on in!”

This was only the second time that Billie Jean had tried to play tennis.

Clyde said with a smile, “Billie Jean, with hard work, you can be a champion.”

Sometimes, a kind word from a stranger during a stressful moment can mean the world to someone. My daughter Rachel had severe ADHD (多动症) as a child and the most embarrassing and trying moments were when we were out in public. I would try to quickly get my shopping done while trying my level best to avoid a meltdown when she was begging me for a toy or candy bar.

My daughter has grown into a wonderful young woman now. Most people who hear my stories of her struggles growing up don’t believe me when they meet her. This is a proof of the saying, “It gets better,” because it really does. Those old memories of her extreme anger feel not-so-distant when I encounter a child’s mirror-image behavior in a store. More often than not, I continue shopping, never stopping to offer any kind of assistance or words of encouragement to the parent. Until recently.

Last week, I was shopping in our local market. My daughter happened to be with me. As we were choosing what she needed, we heard the start of a child’s meltdown that would last more than fifteen minutes. I decided to walk over to investigate the situation, already picturing the scene in my mind. No doubt, the cries of the young boy could be heard clear across the store.

My daughter came up to me and said, “Mom! Is that what I sounded like when I was little?”

“Yes, Rachel, you sounded just like that,” I replied.

Several more minutes went by, and the boy just wouldn’t stop. I arrived at the aisle (过道) to find a twenty-something mother standing in the middle of the aisle calmly telling the boy, “No.” She was not going to get whatever the boy so desperately wanted. I knew she was doing an excellent job of ignoring his behavior while trying to remain calm during this trying situation. Her eyes said everything that I had ever felt in those moments. I’m sure she would also pass this tough time in the end because “It gets better.” She needed some encouragement at this moment and I happened to have the same experience, so I decided to share my story.

Jeff and I had many conversations during the year, but I will always remember the time he told me about his family. His father, a successful physician, was cold and strict in Jeffs words. His father had even paved the way for Jeff to attend the same college from which he had graduated.

Jeff was twenty-seven and a successful business planner at a company — without a degree. His passion was skiing. When he graduated from high school, he decided to decline his father’s offer and, instead, to work with a ski patrol (滑雪巡逻队). With pain in his eyes, Jeff told me he still remembered the day when he told his father he was going to give up college and take a job at a ski resort.

Hearing Jeffs decision, his father looked off into the distance. Then came the words that still echoed in Jeff’s mind: “You lazy kid. No son of mine is going to work with a ski patrol and does not attend college. I should have known you’d never amount to anything!” The two had not spoken since that conversation.

Later, he was back in the area near where he grew up and he certainly did not want his father to know he was attending college. He was doing this for himself, not for his father. He said it over and over again. Jeff’s sister had always remained supportive of Jeffs decisions. She stayed in contact with their father, but Jeff had made her promise that she would not share any information about his life with him.

The day when the graduation ceremony came, I walked around talking to people before it started. I noticed a man with a confused expression.

“Excuse me,” he said as he politely approached me. “What is happening here today?”

“It’s graduation day,” I replied, smiling. “Well, that’s odd,” he said, “my daughter asked me to meet her at this address.” His eyes sparkled and he smiled. “Maybe she completed her associate’s degree and wanted to surprise me!”

I helped him find a seat.

Paragraph 1: As I left him, he said, “Thank you. By the way, my name’s Dr. Holstrom.”

Paragraph 2: Jeff was the last person to cross the stage.

Mistake or Masterpiece?

Wanda graduated from a cooking school and got a job in a new cafe. She has been working in the cafe for 6 weeks. She likes her job. The cafe belongs to Gregor who makes coffee and looks after the customers. Wanda does all the cooking. Wanda thinks Gregor is very nice, but he is also a tough boss. He wants everything to be perfect.

Today Wanda is having a bad day. Last night, she was in a terribly low mood and drank a lot of wine with her friends. Now her head hurts and she feels extremely bad. However, Gregor is very excited. “Wanda, we must try very hard today. Look at the man sitting by the window. He is Anton Wesley-Brown. He writes about food and restaurants for the newspaper! If he likes the food here, he will write a good report about our cafe!”

Wanda understands. Gregor wants the cafe to be a success. But why today? Why does this restaurant critic come today? Today’s special is very simple — a grilled pork chop (烤猪排), with cream, mustard sauce (芥末酱) and salad. “I could have cooked something wonderful if I had known that man was coming. But today I am too ill to cook better,” Wanda thinks. “Mr Wesley-Brown wants the pork chop!” Gregor comes to her and says. “OK,” Wanda replies. When the meal is ready, Gregor hurries over and takes the meal to Mr Wesley-Brown.

When Wanda is preparing for the next dish, she catches sight of a small bottle on the counter. “Why is there brown sugar here? I used salt, pepper and mustard. I didn’t use brown sugar. There is the pepper and the mustard. Where is the salt? Oh, no! I put brown sugar on the pork chop! Mr Wesley-Brown will hate it! Gregor will be very angry! I will lose my job!” Wanda becomes upset. She doesn’t know what to do.

It’s almost noon and the cafe is busy.

“Er, yes, I did put brown sugar on it. Sorry,” Wanda answers in a small voice.

Another school year was beginning. I had thirteen excited first graders eager to learn and ready to fill my classroom with giggles (咯咯笑), tears, and everything in between, I realized that I had a uniquely small class size and got excited about the special projects we could do. One project that I had been particularly interested in was adopting military members as pen pals for my students.

1 began by sending out an e-mail to our school district employees asking for names and contact information of any military members they knew of. I was able to gather four different contacts and sent an e mail to each one asking if we could “adopt” them.

As the school year progressed, I eagerly awaited responses to my emails, hoping to establish connections between my first-grade students and military members serving abroad. The initial excitement gave way to a bit of uncertainty as there was not any reply.

However, one individual, Sergeant (中士) Allen, emerged as a beacon of hope. He responded to my email, expressing his eagerness to participate in our pen pal project. He shared that he was currently stationed overseas and how much he appreciated the opportunity to connect with young students back home.

Sergeant Allen’s initial email introduced himself to the class and outlined his experiences and duties as a soldier. My first graders were absolutely thrilled to read his words, and their faces lit up with curiosity and wonder. They immediately began drafting their first letters, full of questions about life in the military, his daily routines, and what it was like to be so far from home.

Sergeant Allen didn’t just respond to our initial letters; he became a dedicated and compassionate pen pal. He answered every question from my students, sharing stories of his daily life, and the challenges he faced.

My first graders began crafting colorful cards, drawing pictures, and writing heartfelt letters to Sergeant Allen. These care packages were sent overseas, crossing thousands of miles to reach our newfound friend. Sergeant Allen responded with gratitude, sending his letters and care packages. This continuous exchange fostered a sense of pride and responsibility in the hearts of my young students.

As the school year came to a close, we held a special video call with him.

I was astonished to know that he was my classmate.

It was my very first trip to Africa. We were driving along a track that skirted the southern bank of the Chobe River, when my friend suddenly noticed something up ahead — a large shape jammed in-between a couple of big trees, right beside the road. We edged the car closer and, to our surprise, found ourselves looking at a young calf snuggled (偎依) up against a sizeable elephant (most probably its mother).

Our dilemma now was this: Was it OK to just drive slowly past the pair of elephants on that narrow track? Or would that cause the mother to become upset and charge, in which case we should either wait for them to move on or turn the car around? A bit unnerved by the close encounter, we chose to head back the way we’d come.

In the following days, I had a number of conversations with national park staff and fellow travelers about what to do when you suddenly come across an elephant while driving in the African wilds.

Sometimes people told me it would be OK to slowly drive past the mother and calf, because the wild animals of Chobe have become pretty used to humans in cars. Elephants seldom pose a threat to us. So there’s no need to adopt an attitude of permanent near-panic calm decisiveness is your true ally (助手) in such situations.

But then sometimes I was told to switch off the car and wait until the elephant had departed the scene. The idea was that the rumble (隆隆声) of an automotive engine could be interpreted by the animal as a kind of challenge. Keeping silent would reassure the elephant that you weren’t going to cause any trouble, and eventually it would go on its merry way. OK, that also sounded reasonable enough.

A week later, my friend and I were driving by a river, watching elephants meet on the water for a drink, and were driving back to our lodge (度假小屋) when we found our route blocked by a young male elephant. As surprised as we were, the elephant planted his feet in the dirt and seemingly prepared to fight against our car.

The track was narrow and bordered by thick bush, so we couldn’t go around him.

The elephant walked right up to the car.