In 1967, when I was 6 years old, my family moved to the small town of Oanaca, Nevada. My parents worked hard to feed us five girls. Though the community was small, everyone welcomed us and we soon made many friends. One family we grew to admire was the Wadsworths.

The first two years were filled with friendship and joy. But then disaster struck: Mrs. Wadsworth died, leaving her husband with eight children that hadn't grown up. One year later, Mr. Wadsworth also passed away.

The entire town was heartbroken. Preparations were made to send the kids to their relatives, but the Wadsworth children had different plans. The oldest son, Brent, gathered all his brothers and sisters and held a family meeting. “Our parents taught us to be responsible for each other. They wouldn't want us to be separated and unable to see each other frequently from now on,” he said seriously and firmly. The children all agreed and decided to make it on their own.

With their own efforts and the community's care and help, the Wadsworth children grew healthily and happily. Grateful for the love from the community during their hardships, they were always ready to serve others and return the favor they had received. One such time was the Christmas of 1972.

Typically, on Christmas Eve all the children from the community would gather in the church building to attend the Christmas party, the highlight(高潮) of which was a visit from Santa Claus. Santa Claus would burst into the hall, shouting “Ho, ho, ho!” Then he would sit in front of the stage, take each child on his lap to listen to their Christmas wishes, and give each a paper bag filled with peanuts, an orange and a large candy cane（糖果棒）. It was an event we eagerly looked forward to all year long.

But this Christmas would be different with the flu(流感) spreading through the town.

Unexpectedly, on Christmas Eve, a knock came at our front door.

It was a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon some fifteen or sixteen years ago. I had volunteered to take my two older kids to the local playground while my wife put the youngest down for a nap. As soon as we got there my daughter headed for the swings and asked for a push. As I was helping my daughter to go higher and higher, I noticed another girl who was about 8 years old, trying in vain to get her own swing going. Her elderly grandmother was sitting quietly on a nearby bench and smiled at me.

I gave my daughter one big push and then walked over to the little girl and asked if she could use a push too. She smiled and said “Yes!” I soon had her feet soaring towards the clouds while she laughed happily. For the next two hours I found myself pushing swings and playing tag with my son, daughter, and the other little girl. By the time we headed home, I was physically exhausted, but my spirits was still flying higher than those swings.

One day, I was exhausted again after a long day’s work. Still, I needed to pick up my kids from the local grade school before heading home. I stood wearily in the parents’ waiting area watching for my children. Suddenly, I felt two tiny arms wrap around my stomach. I looked down and there was the little girl from the playground smiling up at me. She gave me one more big hug before heading off to catch her school bus. As I watched her back, I didn’t feel quite so tired anymore and my spirits were once again soaring in the Heavens.

10 years later, something terrible happened to me.

I was so excited to hear that.

The Ex-Footballer

I eventually managed to persuade my parents to buy me a new football shirt for the school matches. My old shirt had worn out and made me depressed every time I put it on. But now I had a brand-new shirt! I was so excited. The next school match wasn’t until next week though! How could I wait that long? I couldn’t. So I decided to wear it today for the first time during a kick about in our street. I wish I hadn’t! As soon as we had been playing for ten minutes, the shirt sleeve ripped (裂开) when I made a turn. I didn’t pay much attention to it at first. “I’ll sew it back together after the match” I thought. But then I noticed that it wasn’t just the stitch (针脚) that had come out, the whole sleeve was torn. Only a professional can mend it now. I couldn’t tell my mum and dad that my new football shirt was ruined. I needed a tailor. As I walked home, feeling totally at a loss what to do, I was startled to suddenly come across a shop sign “All kinds of repairs and services!” I went inside immediately. However, I hadn’t seen the step in front of the door and I tripped into the shop hitting a wooden sculpture to the left of the entrance. When I crashed into it, it broke! I looked around the shop feeling embarrassed and blushing bright red. A man with white bushy hair said calmly, “Welcome!” “I’m sorry. I broke your sculpture.” “You’ve broken it in just the right place. This is a repair shop. Repairs are my job! I looked around the shop. I saw an iron, broken toys and a broken chair. “I guess this is the wrong place. What I really need is a tailor’s” I said, putting my fingers through the tear (裂口) in the shirt. “It’s OK. I’ve been waiting a long, long time to repair a football shirt. “Are you serious?” I held the shirt tight so he couldn’t take it from me.

But the man didn’t let me move and took the shirt from me.

When I said “Thank you”, I noticed a photo of a football team attached to the sewing machine (缝纫机).