I was very sad because my life had been severely disrupted and I was sure Christmas would never come. I was eight years old, but in the past few months, I had aged greatly.

Everyone was sad and desperate because of what had happened earlier in the year, in April, when the army attacked our village and took all the young boys and girls away. Families were separated and some were murdered. We were forced to work and march for many miles without food. The soldiers burned everything in our village and during our forced march we lost all sense of time and place.

During one rainy night we were miraculously able to get away from the soldiers and made our way back to our burned-out village. Most of us were sick, exhausted, and depressed. Most of the members of our families were nowhere to be found. We had no idea what day or time it was. This was the situation until my grandmother noticed the reddish and yellow flower we called, “Fire on the Mountain”. It was blooming in the middle of the marketplace where it had stood and bloomed for generations at Christmas time. For some reason it had survived the fire. Grandmother told us it was almost Christmas because the flower was blooming. As far as she could remember, this only occurred at Christmas time.

Suddenly, we heard the horn of several cars approaching our village. At first, we thought they were cars full of men with machine guns, so we hid in the forest. To our surprise, those people were just ordinary travelers on their way to their villages miles away to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.

They were shocked and horrified at the suffering and the destruction all around us. They told us it really was Christmas Eve. They shared the little food they had with us. They even helped us build a fire to keep us warm. We were not alone anymore. Christmas came to our village that night.

I’ve been into volunteer work since childhood. As a girl, I volunteered at animal shelters, played music at nursing homes, and helped with community cleanup. In college, I volunteered heavily at a large yearly conference (会议), where I first met and fell in love with my husband Tom, who was on my team of co-volunteers.

Volunteering has been a way of life for me and I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it. Most of the time, you do feel that you’re making a difference. Once I led a project that provided food to Syrian families. When it was nearing Ramadan, the biggest holiday season in Islam, I filled the food package with nuts, olive oil, sweets... We took the package and arrived just as a Syrian family was sitting on their floor for breakfast. They had nothing but some bread and a pot of tea. The mother cried when seeing us, saying she would never forget our kindness gratefully.

Another time, some friends and I volunteered to a church with only a few elderly residents. The churchyard needed attention. We spent the weekend in the home of one of these old ladies so we could clean and repair the churchyard. I’ll never forget the new life in her eyes as she stayed with us. It broke my heart to remember this old lady with pleasure for such small efforts we made.

Volunteer work is satisfying not because you have done some work, but because your presence has an effect on people around. It makes me grateful for what I have and gives me a chance to serve people.

In a town there lived a little, beautiful and smart girl. Her name was Rose. Everyone was very brave, but she was scared of the doctor. One day, one of her teeth was moving. Her mom saw it. She said, "One of your teeth is moving, and you need to visit Doctor Tim."

Rose said, "No! I'm not going to the doctor."Mom said, "Don't worry. It's not wobbly(摆动的) we needn't go to the doctor at once." That made Rose feel better.

After five weeks, Rose forgot about her tooth but her mom didn't. She checked her tooth again and it was wobblier, so she said, "It's time to see the doctor."

Rose was scared but she had to do what her mom told her, so they went to see the doctor Tim. They had to wait in the waiting room.

When it was her turn, her heart was beating very fast. She went into Doctor Tim's room. He was smiling. She sat on the chair. Doctor Tim said, "Close your eyes." Rose closed her eyes, but just before Doctor Tim started, tears started coming down from her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw Doctor Tim holding her tooth, smiling. Rose smiled. Then Doctor Tim gave her a teddy bear. From that time Rose wasn't scared of doctors anymore.