Grandpa moved in with us after Grandma passed away. He came to Canada from China, where he was a well-respected school headmaster.

I, a nine-year-old boy, never spoke much Chinese. Grandpa didn’t speak much English, but we still connected in our own way.

One way we developed our relationship was over a game of Monopoly. He didn’t really understand the rules or much of what my little brother and I said; I don’t think it mattered. He laughed when he landed on our hotels. Or when he pulled a card that read: “GO TO JAIL.” He got a kick out of our amusement.

I think of Grandpa when I play the trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh! with my sons. I can’t keep track of all the spells and effects involved in this game.

Truthfully, I don’t care if I win or lose these games. What matters is spending time with my children and making an effort to understand their interests.

I often think about my kids. At how excitedly they explain rules and how they go easy on their old man. I imagine it’s like how Grandpa felt playing Monopoly with us.

Grandpa went for regular walks. He also spent his days sitting on the couch, staring out the window and singing quietly. I often thought he was bored. But as I age, I find peace in taking moments to stare out a window. Maybe I got that from him.

What I learned from my grandfather was to enjoy simple pleasures in life. To see the beauty in the colors of the rainbow. To see a single leaf fall from a tree. To play Yu-Gi-Oh! with my sons.

It only takes one wrong step near a lake in the winter for disaster to happen. Pepper, the dog and his mom found that out the hard way.

The two of them were taking a morning walk in Chicago along Lake Michigan when Pepper, a 7-year-old dog, got free of its rope, slipped on some rocks, and fell onto the ice sheets of the lake. As Pepper tried to climb back up to his human owner, the ice around him broke, and he began floating (漂浮) away!

Since the water was so cold, Pepper should be saved as soon as possible. As Fire Deputy District Chief Jason Lach said, hypothermia (a serious medical condition caused by very low temperature) can start within several minutes. Thankfully, firefighters were already nearby practicing underwater ice dives.

Just 10 minutes later, 40 rescue (救援) workers arrived, along with fire department vehicles and a helicopter. By the time the officials in the helicopter noticed Pepper, he and his ice float were 500 feet out into the lake. Firefighter Chris Iverson dove into the water and swam out to Pepper. Chris calmed the dog down and tied him to a safety sling (吊索). Meanwhile, firefighter Emerson Branch swam out with a rapid deployment craft, which he and Chris used to bring Pepper safely to shore. The rescue only took about 15 minutes. When the firefighters reached dry land with Pepper, they dried him using a towel and played the pass-the-dog to get him back to his human owner.

Caretakers at Veterinary Emergency Group Hospital made sure Pepper was OK. But Jason hopes his rescue will be a lesson for others. “The dog was good, warmed up to its owner, and went on its happy way,” Jason said. “But stay off the ice. It’s never safe, …Step into a hole, and you’re out of sight.”

About 15 years ago, Andrew McLindon, a businessman and crazy cyclist, was riding his bike in Austin, Texas, when he thought about Jack, a friend’s 12-year-old son. Jack had never known the joy of biking because he suffered from hydrocephalus(脑水肿), a buildup of fluid in the brain that often causes balance disturbances.

When he got home, McLindon, now 60, went online and found a three-wheel bike with a balancing bar, perfect for a child with balance issues. Soon Jack was riding around the street with his friends, having fun and getting exercise. But there was more, as his friend told McLindon. “I’ll never forget the smile on his face when my son is interacting with other kids.”

That smile launched the McLindon Family Foundation. Funded by donations, the group works with clinics to find children who can benefit from owning an adaptive bike and to help make each bike to the particular needs of the child. A bike may include a headrest, a shoulder belt, a seat belt and soon. The bikes are expensive-$3,000 to $4,000, and that’s with the foundation’s producer’s discount. For kids lucky enough to get one, they’re a life changer.

“We worked with a 14-year-old who has spina bifida(脊柱裂),” says McLindon. “She spent most days on the couch watching TV. Soon after she got her bike, she was training for special-needs triathlons(三项全能运动). In a magazine interview, she said, ‘I always knew there was an athlete in me.’”

So far, the foundation has given away45 0 bikes, and that’s just a start. “I do a lot of things. I run a lot of companies,” McLindon says. “But getting these kids their bikes is the most important thing that I do.”

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