While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, I had one of life-changing experiences. It happened only two feet away from me.

In order to find my friend among the passengers, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.

First he smiled at his younger son, about six years old, as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long hug(拥抱). I heard the father said, “It’s so good to see you. I missed you so much!” His son smiled shyly and replied happily, “Me too, Dad!”

Then the man stood up, cupping (捧着) his eldest son’s face in his hands and said, “You are already quite a young man. I love you very much, Zach!” Then the father gave the son a warm hug.

At the same time, the man’s baby girl was squirming(来回扭动) excitedly in her mother’s arms. The man said, “Hi, baby girl!” as he gently took the baby from her mother. He kissed her face. The little girl felt satisfied in her father’s arms.

After that, he handed the baby to his eldest son and gave his wife the longest and warmest hug. He gently said, “I love you so much!” They looked at each others’ eyes with big smiles on their faces.

At that moment, they reminded me of newly-married couples, though it couldn’t be possible by the age of their sons. Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?”“Almost 10 years in total,” the father replied.

When asked how long he had been away from his family, he said it was only two days.

“I hope my marriage is similar to yours!” I talked to him.

There were two men who occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain (排除)the liquids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours every day. They spoke about their wives and families and their jobs. And every afternoon when the man by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened by all the activity and color of the outside world.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm, and a fine view of the city could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in detail, the man on the other side of the room closed his eyes and imagined the beautiful scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window described it. Unexpectedly, a strange thought entered his head: Why could he look out of the window? Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn’t seem fair.

As the thought developed, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy turned into hate and soon turned him sour. He began to find himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, another man began to cough. __________________________

As soon as it seemed reasonable, the man asked the nurse if he could move next to the window. ___________

I was looking forward to our morning trip with my son Scott to the Collingswood Flea Market (跳蚤市场). It was a typical November day, freezing in the shade and warm in the sun. A perfect day for outdoor shopping.

Scott and I walked up and down looking at the many tables covered with Christmas decorations along with the usual clothes and jewelry, but we simply bought a few small items. After an hour of walking with the cold wind blowing, we decided to go home for lunch. On our way, we made a quick stop at Wawa for those delicious soft, salted pretzels (椒盐卷). Scott ran into the store while I waited in the car. Sitting alone, I was rubbing my cold hands together when I noticed that my engagement ring (订婚戒指) was missing. I knew I’d been wearing it when we’d visited a jewelry stand earlier, and I hadn’t taken it off. My heart was racing now.

When I informed Scott of the missing ring he couldn’t believe it either. “Mom, if you had worn gloves, it wouldn’t have fallen off your finger. Look in your pockets and handbag!” We searched the car and searched my clothes, too. No ring! It must have fallen off my finger in the cold.

We headed back to the flea market and parked in the same spot as before. We checked that area, and then began walking up and down the maze (迷宫) of tables while looking at the ground. Leaves blew in the wind and people were everywhere. Hundreds of feet passed by and I began getting lightheaded as I attentively looked at the ground. It was an expensive engagement ring my husband had given me years earlier. I had never lost or misplaced it in all that time... until now.

I was annoyed with myself for having lost the ring. We drove home as I tried to hold back my tears.