When a mom attended school to help her disabled son, her son and the school thanked her in the sweetest way. It wasn't until after his college years that Marty became disabled after __down stairs. When her son __to get his MBA, Judy O'Connor attended every class with him to help him write and __. Every day, Judy would sit by Marty in class, taking notes to make sure of __specific requests, raising her hand so he could answer questions, and silently writing down his __on test days. "After a little while, we found that working together we could __a great deal, " Marty says.

On graduation day at Chapman University, Judy was dressed in black to mix in with the other __. Little did she know she'd soon be the center of __. When Marty's name was called, his mom helped __him to the front of the stage, ___for a picture with Marty as he received his diploma. Over the loudspeaker, a（n）___was made in a voice ___with happy tears: The university was giving Judy an honorary（荣誉的）MBA. " A lump came to my throat. I was proud of my son and ___to be honored, " says Judy.

The mother and the son had joked that Judy was putting in enough work to earn her own ___. To Marty, there was no question that his mom,a retired elementary school teacher with a business degree, had ___earned her honorary MBA.

Perhaps just as important, Judy gave Marty ___. Life as Marty knew it before the ___may have changed, but he encourages anyone in a ___situation to keep up hope. " Just keep an open mind, ___you can make your diversity your advantage and take challenges as a（n）___for growth in your life," he says.

   I was surprised when I received a short message from my father wishing me a happy birthday.

I had _____ to hear from my mother，my grandmother and my other relatives，but never from my father. Lying in bed，_____ of my father flooded back.

When I was a little boy，I regarded my father as a（n）_____  able to do anything. _____ ，things slowly began to _____ .The more I learned，the more I doubted what he said. The gap between us _____ and，at last，I didn't even like communicating with him.

My father，in my mind，had no _____ in talking with me. Dinner was the only time we were together. He had no time to watch TV with me. He would tell me to ask my mother _____ I needed something. He even refused to answer my _____ when I phoned from school. I got ______ the changes. I thought that perhaps my father no longer ______ me.

Over time, however, I began to wonder whether my ______ was right. One day, my mother told me that each time I called, my father was always ______ beside her. Suddenly, I hated myself for my ______ behavior toward him.

I planned thousands of times to ______ to my father. In the end, however, I was always too embarrassed about what I had done.

But that Saturday, I was so ______ by his short message. I ______ then that my father's love for me had never disappeared. I decided to send a ______ “Thank you, my dear father.”

Two days later, when I returned home, my mother told me that my father had been so ______ when he received my reply. She said he had ______ from morning till night. At that moment, I felt truly happy.

Doing good daily doesn't necessary mean helping other people. We can also do something good for other little creatures on this earth. Today, I was on my way to home and saw the turtle trying to cross the road. I stop my car, picked up and brought it to a river nearby. It was the rush hour but there were a lot of cars behind me. It took me about five minute to finish doing that. Although my action might be an inconvenience with other cars, I knew that save a life was well worth their waiting. In my mind. what I did was meaningless.

   Yesterday I was a bit early for a date so I stopped in at McDonald’s for a coffee. I think they make the best coffee. Two very pleasant young girls were working at the counter and the customer ahead was hard to please!

The young girl was sweaty and near tears. I only wanted coffee but I liked lots of milk in it. I really didn’t want to be difficult so I said, “You go ahead and add lots of milk and if it’s not enough, I’ll ask for more.” She smiled. She made a perfect coffee. I left her two pink candies as a tip (小费).

I went to her supervisor and let the leader know how well she dealt with such a difficult customer ahead of me. More of that needs to be done for young people starting out — probably the first job.

I remember how hard it was. I would have run away crying and quit, if it had been me yesterday serving those customers. I’d still be crying too.

Comments posted by molliecat on July 29, 2018

READERS’ COMMENTS

FayBaby wrote: Customer service can be one of the most difficult and thankless jobs at times. Your expression of appreciation (感激) probably made her day.

Mish wrote: How dear you were to lend support there, dear molliecat. Love you!

Kiwicat wrote: My sons both have very unpleasant first job stories of how rude and demanding customers can be. I now always encourage a new cashier or someone to do job training. Thanks for the reminder (提醒物) that we can be more thankful to those who offer front-line customer service.

Mindyjourney wrote: Thank you for helping calm the young worker with your appreciation and thoughtfulness. So many good lessons you have earned are shared. Blessings, dear molliecat.

Challenges of life are of great important in our growth. It reminds me of my days which I joined in the military training after I entered senior high school. It was the first time I have lived away from my home, so I found difficult to fit in. And the training officer was strict on me. I once thought I couldn’t stick to the end. But final, I made it. The training made it much easy for me to adapt to my future life. And the difficulties I came across have now became a precious memory in my life.

In a short, it’s better to learning to regard the challenges of life as the stepping stone to future success and make the best of them.