I have worked as a keeper at the National Zoo, Paris for 11 years. Spot and Stripe are the first tiger cubs that have ever been born here. Globally, a third of Sumatran cubs in zoos don't make it to adulthood, so I decided to give them round-the-clock care at home.

I've got two children—the younger one, Kynan, was extremely happy about the tigers arriving - but all of us really looked forward to being part of their lives and watching them grow. I wasn't worried about bringing them into my home with my wife and kids. These were cubs. They weighed about 2.5 kg and were so small that there was absolutely no risk.

As they grew more mobile, we let them move freely around the house during the day, but when we were asleep we had to contain them in a large room, otherwise they'd get up to mischief. We'd come down in the morning to find they'd turned the room upside down, and left it looking like a zoo.

Things quickly got very intense due to the huge amount of energy required to look after them. There were some tough times and I just felt extremely tired. I was grateful that my family was there to help. We had to have a bit of a production line going, making up “tiger milk”, washing baby bottles, and cleaning the floors.

When Spot and Stripe were four months old, they were learning how to open doors and jump fences, and we knew it really was time for them to go. It was hard for us to finally part with them. For the first few days, Kynan was always a bit disappointed that the cubs weren't there.

I'm not sad about it. I'm hands-on with them every day at the zoo, and I do look back very fondly on the time that we had them.

Diane Henderiks, a former athlete, pursued a career in nutrition to combine her passions of food, health and physical activity throughout her life. “The field of nutrition is so big,” she says. “I found my place in teaching people how to cook and eat well.”

Attracted by media, specifically television, Henderiks made regular on-air appearances and served as an editorial contributor for ABC’s Good Morning America. “From my first local TV appearance, I knew this was going to be the medium for me to share my knowledge and skills with a lot of people at one time,” she says.

As the host of the show Fresh to Frozen and Back, Henderiks uses her expertise as a registered dietitian (营养师) and chef to create recipes with fresh and simple ingredients. “My audience are home cooks and families who want to improve nutrition at home,” Henderiks. says. “I believe simplicity is key. The first step to healthier eating is to try to eat as close to nature as possible.”

Henderiks finds joy in cooking for family and friends, and also in volunteering and working with nonprofit organizations. Beyond her TV show and volunteer work, Henderiks doescatering (酒席承办) and is a private chef. “The positive feedback I receive is that organizations, TV shows and individuals all love my passion for cooking,” she says. “The lasting impressions and solid relationships speak for themselves.”

A true inspiration to fellow nutrition professionals and students, Henderiks presents this encouraging advice, “Follow your passion and never give up. Volunteer and give back as much as you can to organizations that mean something to you. Work very hard to be one of the go-to experts in nutrition!”

Papa’s jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams—not to succeed but to fail. “It’s unbelievable!” he said. “Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

“Yes, she has,” said Mama. “But it’s not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team”.

“Wanted off the swimming team?”said Papa. “She never said anything about that to me.”

“Of course she didn’t.” said Mama. “She was afraid you’d blow your top.You already had her getting a swimming scholarship(奖学金) to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt ? For her, being on the team couldn’t have been much fun.”

“Oh, my Gosh!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehand. “I’ve been so stupid! I just thought she’d want to be a champion swimmer because she’s so good at it.”

“It’s like anything else, dear,” said Mama, “No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won’t want to do it anymore.”

Papa put his head in his hands.

“She must be really mad at me,”he mumbled.“Maybe I should say sorry to her.”

Sister’s footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents with a smile.

“Honey,”said Mama with a smile. “Your Papa and I have decided that there’s no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don’t want to.”

Sister’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yippee!” she cried.

“And,”added Papa, “there’s no need for any more drills. I’m sure you’ll bring your grades back up all by yourself.”

Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. “I’m going to play cards with Lizzy!“ she said.”See you later!”

From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy’s house.

“It’s good to see her happy again,” said Mama,

“It sure is,“Papa agreed.“As for the swimming team, there’s always next year.”

“If?” Mama prompted him.

“Oh, right,” said Papa.“If she wants to.” Mama smiled. “At least you’re learning, dear.” she said. She kissed him.

“Well, you know what they say,” Papa said. “Better late than never”.