Jack’s grandfather lived in the countryside. One summer holiday, he went to visit his grandfather, with whom he played all the time. One day he suddenly said to his grandfather, “When I grow up, I want to become a successful man. Can you tell me some ways to be successful?”

Seeing Jack’s innocent eyes, the grandfather nodded. However, without saying anything, he took Jack to a nearby nursery. From the nursery, his grandpa bought two small plants and came back home. Then he planted one plant in a pot and kept it inside the house and planted the other outside the house. After finishing planting, he asked Jack, “Which of these two plants do you think will grow better in the future?”

Jack kept thinking for some time and then said, “That plant inside the house will grow better because it is safe from every danger while the plant outside is at risk of many things like strong sunlight, storms, animals and so on.”

The grandfather smiled and said, “Let’s see what will happen in the future.” After that Jack left with his parents. Four years later, Jack came back to visit his grandfather again. Upon seeing his grandfather, Jack said, “Grandpa, last time I asked you some ways to be successful, but you did not tell me anything. This time you have to tell me.”

The grandfather smiled and said, “Sure, but first, let’s take a look at the plants that we bought a few years ago.”

Saying this, he took Jack to the place where he had planted the small plant in a pot. Jack found the plant had turned into a tree. Then the grandfather took Jack to look at the plant which they had planted outside. There stood a huge tree. Its branches spread far and wide, providing shade to passers-by.

The grandfather looked at Jack and asked, “Tell me which plant grew better?”

Jack nodded, the grandfather continued his words.

The Kite Without a Thread

One day a father and son went to the kite-flying festival. The young son was very happy when he saw the sky filled with colorful kites. He asked his father to get him a kite and a thread with a roller so that he could fly a kite, too. The father went to the shop at the park where the festival was being held, and bought a kite and a roll of thread for his son.

His son started to fly the kite, and soon his kite flew high up in the sky. After a while, the son said, “Dad, it seems that the thread is holding up the kite from flying higher. If we break it, the kite will be free and will also fly even higher. Can we break it?” The father said, “Of course!” And he cut the thread from the roller. The kite started to go a little higher, which made his son very happy.

But slowly, the kite started to come down.

The father explained, “Son, the thread was not holding the kite from going higher.

Broken Shells

It was a warm summer afternoon at the Jersey shore. My four-year-old son and I just loved walking along the beach just before dinner. With a bucket in hand, we’d hit the sand and start our adventure.

I remember the days not so long ago when a trip to the beach was just unbearable for my little boy. My son, Will, was diagnosed with ASD (孤独症). His sensitivities to sights, sounds, and touches would prevent us from enjoying everyday activities. The beach is now one of his favorite places to visit.

Presently, we are able to walk along the edge of the water almost daily in the summer months, looking for seashells to fill our bucket. On this particular day, there didn’t seem to be too many shells washed up on the shore. Will began picking up whatever shells he saw lying in the sand. After a while, I looked into the bucket and saw nothing but broken shells. “Will,” I said, “all of these shells are broken and no good.” “You need to find shells like this,” I continued, as I held up a perfectly shaped shell. Will gave me a puzzled look and continued on his way, gathering whatever shells he saw and dropping them into the bucket.

I continued my search for some time, and again, I stopped, but this time I asked in a firm voice, “Will, why do you insist on filling our bucket with shells that are broken?” He looked up at me and replied, “Mom, there are more shells on the beach that are broken than there are perfect ones that you are searching for. We’ll get the bucket filled faster with the broken ones.” True, I thought, but who wanted a bucketful of broken shells? Will stared at me as if he knew what I was thinking. “Mom, these shells are broken. but they are still beautiful.” he added. Just then he began commenting on different shells’ uniqueness. “It has the color purple on it. Mom, none of yours have purple on them. It reminds me of a clown (小丑). This one is like the sun, and these ones are like butterfly wings,” he said with such pride.

Touched by what he said, I realized changes are to be made to our shell trip.

Back home with great joy, we agreed to make more shell trips and build a “broken shell garden”.