It was a beautiful August day, just weeks before school restarted. My mother, my brother and I were sitting in our front yard, enjoying the afternoon shade of the big tree. My father, Carl, was also at home, working in his basement office. As we lazed outside, we watched as two girls came towards us on our side of the street; one riding a bicycle and one holding onto the back of it as she roller-skated behind.

Just as they passed by, the skater lost her balance and went down on the street, right in front of our neighbor’s house. My mother jumped up quickly and ran toward them to help the fallen skater, and my mother’s foot caught on an uneven section of the sidewalk. Down she went, injuring her knees, her palms and her chin. We came running up to her and my brother went to ask my father for help. Meanwhile, I was checking on the skater, who was okay.

The two girls continued on their way, and my mother lay there on the sidewalk, bleeding. My father came running, and he carried my mother into the house. He set her down on a kitchen chair and got busy cleaning her wounds with a wet washcloth. As they washed the wounds, my mother looked at her wedding ring on her finger, only to find the diamond was gone.

My brother and I ran outside to look for the missing diamond. The place she fell on the sidewalk was covered with small rocks. We had no luck. My mother went out and searched as well, on her painful hands and knees. Many people spent many hours searching the area over the next several days, all in vain. My mother’s wedding ring, although not fancy, was priceless to her.

Several months passed. Our neighbor, Mike, was a good friend and had a business buying and reselling cars. We bought several cars from him over the years because he was so good at it. He liked wearing work boots and his boots were always muddy wherever he went.

One mild winter day, Mike came over to see my father.

I started yelling at the top of my lungs as I ran to the basement.

Thirty years ago, Cayley was greatly surprised to find that she had a brother. She made up her mind to find him. Since then she refused to leave the home she grew up in, hoping that her brother would knock on the door one day. Little did Cayley know that her brother, Nick Rhoades, had been longing to do so, but only to walk away at the last minute. But thanks to the TV programme Long Lost Family, the pair have enjoyed an emotional reunion.

Cayley’s mum Jacqueline left the family when her daughter was only seven to start a new life in America. Cayley was brought up by her grandmother Victoria, who died in 2001, and she clearly remembered first finding out about her brother Nick. Cayley was quite angry with the fact that was covered up. So she was determined to find her brother no matter what difficulties she would meet with.

Many years later, Cayley, her husband, Colin, and their children were still staying in the house where she grew up because she always had hope that one day her brother would knock on the door. Her husband Colin was very understanding and even though they had two other houses to move to, they stayed in the same house. She never gave up hope.

Meanwhile, when Nick knew he was adopted, he did ask his parents questions and they told him everything they knew. His adoptive parents were so loving and his mum had adopted hundreds of children. Nick had been one of those lucky kids. He had lived a really very happy childhood. Sadly, when Nick was 18 his adoptive mum died of cancer. After several years, his adoptive father also died. Nick was extremely sad during that period of time. Once again, he became a poor orphan without parents, which led him to make the decision to find his birth mum Jacqueline.

Nick had been given his birth certificate (出生证) by his adoptive parents with an address on it.

One day, when I arrived at my friend Ollie's house, I found him tossing (扔)one stone at a time into a plastic flowerpot. He didn't bother to look at me when I walked up. I grabbed a handful of stones nearby and we took turns tossing. After a while I asked him what was on his mind. Ollie sighed that he couldn't think of anything good enough for his grandmother, Abuela, on Mother's Day, who was pretty much like a mom to Ollie.

I smiled, suggesting we figure out what she liked most. Just then, Abuela walked out and invited me to lunch. Gladly I accepted it and asked her about the most delicious food she'd ever eaten. Abuela thought for a while and said, “Nothing beats the wonderful soup Mr. Chan makes at his Happy Garden Restaurant except for the soup my grandmother made. And speaking of my grandmother, she made her special strawberry ice cream. Yep, that homemade ice cream had to be the best thing I've ever tasted!”

I winked (眨眼）at Ollie. Ollie winked at me, too.

Over the next few days, Ollie and I asked everyone we knew if they happened to have an old-fashioned ice cream recipe (食谱）, but no luck. My dad helped us search for some online and we found a fun one that didn't require any fancy equipment, just a couple of empty coffee cans. My little brother and sister helped us make Mother's Day Ice-cream Party invitations, and we all came up with a song in honor of Abuela and my mom.

Mother's Day finally arrived.