“Ugh, chicken rolls again? I hate chicken rolls!” Matt yelled. “I’m not eating this.” Matt’s mom and dad looked at each other. Matt’s outbursts had been happening at least once a week all summer long.

“You know what, Matt? We re going to let you take over dinnertime from now on. You can pick the meals and cook them, as long as they’re healthy,” Mom said.

“Good, we’re going to eat good food every night!” Matt answered.

The next day, Dad sat down with Matt to make the meal plan so he could go grocery shopping. Matt had already been thinking about his favorite dinners. “We’re going to have beef tonight, and spaghetti tomorrow, and macaroni (通心粉) and cheese the next day,” Matt started.

“Woah, hold on now,” Dad said. “What else are we going to have with the beef? We need to have at least one vegetable with each meal, and usually we have another side to go with it.”

“Oh, yeah. Um, we can have corn with the beef,” Matt said.

“Sophia does not like corn,” said Dad.

“Well, it’s my choice, so I’m going to make corn,” Matt replied.

“OK, but she might complain at dinner tonight. Are you ready for that?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” Matt answered.

Matt and his dad spent the next hour figuring out the whole week’s meals and side dishes. It was a lot more work than Matt expected, and almost every time he picked something out, his dad would tell him that someone in the family wouldn’t like it. It was very frustrating. “This is impossible!” Matt said.

“Yes, it is hard. Your mother and I try very hard to make everyone happy, but everyone has different tastes, and sometimes, we just can’t please everyone.”

“Fine, we’ll have to just go with this plan this week. Next week I’ll try to make everyone happy,” replied Matt.

When finishing grocery shopping, it was time for Matt to make his first meal.

Two hours had passed by before the dishes were ready on the table.

From the time when I was a child, my mother made it clear that she did not like nursing homes（敬老院）. I remember her saying that nursing homes were terrible places. Whenever my mother mentioned the topic. she would shake her finger at me and add a warning:"If you put me in one of those places, I'll not forgive you! "I knew my mother's wishes and wanted to obey.

Fortunately, my mother lived near me, and for many years it was easy to check on her and help with her care. But with each passing year, my mother experienced a decline in her physical and mental abilities. After ninety, when she was diagnosed with dementia(老年痴呆症) , she needed more assistance with the normal activities of daily living and required close observation just for her own safety.

During the passage of time, I, too, was getting older, I had my own mobility（移动性） issues and health concerns, As the days passed, it became clearer that some changes were needed. If I had to go out for groceries（食品杂货）, I couldn't leave her alone. When I slept, my mother was un-watched, and she could get out of bed and wander off.

Fortunately, while I was figuring out what to do, a brand-new nursing home was built in our town, I toured the nursing home and discovered that they could provide a private room for my mother. They also had staff members that were very professional and well-trained, I tried to convince myself that the new nursing home was the best and safest place for my mother, but I seemed to hear my mother's words and see her finger shake in front of my eyes.

Eventually，I decided and shared my plan with Mom.

The big day came finally.

A few years ago, my mom went to the doctor to ask him about her neck, which had been a little bigger than usual． It turned out there was something t wrong with her lymph glands (淋巴结), and soon they scheduled Mom to have a biopsy (组织切片检查) on the seventh of September．

As soon as I found out, I was very angry, as September 7 is my birthday．They had promised to take me to see a spider- man movie and had a picnic in the yard．I shouted at her and everyone else, too． I even shouted at the dog． I started begging her to reschedule the biopsy, She gave me this look like she was about to cry and said, “I’m sorry, but I’ve done everything I can. I’ve got a disease. Could you forgive me?” Finally, I just yelled, “ I hate you!” and ran into my room, crying． I sat on my bed thinking —Why do things always have to happen to me? Everyone gets diseases． Why couldn’t mom just go to hospital another day?

For the next couple of weeks 1 remained silently angry． Deep down I knew 1 shouldn't act that way, but I did anyway． Anyone could see how sad I was making my mom． I knew it wasn't her fault, but I had to have someone to blame．

Finally, my birthday came． My parents left early in the morning for the hospital, and I was sent to our neighbor's house． No spider-man movie, no birthday present, and no picnic． Though I was taken good care of, I was not having a good time． “This isn't fair,” I thought． “This was supposed to be my day．”

My parents came home late that night． Mom walked in with a bandage on her neck． She sat down and rested her head on my dad's shoulder． It hurt so badly that it was difficult for her to talk．

Later that night, Mom asked me to get into her room and she pulled out a box.

A week later when Mom got the test result, she bugged me tightly and said, “Thank God, it was not cancer(癌 症)!”