Days ago, I made a skirt for a friend’s daughter. Today, when I walked in the door, I noticed the light shining on my answering machine. It was my friend saying, “I know you worked hard on the skirt and it looks very nice, but Janet doesn’t like all those flowers. Could you change them?”

I was angry and wanted to call her back. Then I suddenly thought of Grandma and what she had once done for me long ago.

It was a summer when I was eight. One day, Grandma decided to curl （使卷曲） my hair. She spent a long time on each curl, and I could tell she enjoyed doing that.

When she was finished, she was so proud. She made me stand on a chair to look in the mirror. My heart went cold.

“You can go out and play now,” Grandma said, smiling.

I nodded and slowly walked toward the door. I looked out of the small window in the door and could see some kids playing outside. My best friend, Ducky, saw me and waved for me to come outside, but I couldn’t move. I knew everyone would laugh at the curls. At the same time, I couldn’t go back and tell Grandma how I felt.

Finally I went into Grandma’s room and said in a scared voice, “Grandma, my hair’s too curly.”

She didn’t say a word. She placed a comb （梳子） in water, combed out all my curls, and then stood me back on the chair so I could see in the mirror. Then I went off to play.

It was when Grandma took out my curls that I knew she loved me. She had put my feelings before hers. And that is the kind of love I try to pass on today.

I called my friend back. “I’d be glad to change the flowers,” I said.

My older brother and I went to grow trees last summer. The work sounded interesting. We were both young. And we thought, “How hard could it be to plant little trees all day? It would be great to be in the sun and get some fresh air.”

Little did we know...

When we arrived for our first day of work, a man looked at us and said, “Did you boys read the instructions(说明) you got about how to dress?” We didn’t really have time to read the instructions carefully.

“Well boys, you’re wearing T-shirts and shorts. Do you know who loves them?” he asked.

“Not really,” we answered.

"Mosquitoes(蚊子)!”

He laughed as he walked away. We looked around and saw that the other workers were wearing long shirts(衬衫) and hats.

Later, the man came over and gave us some shirts and hats. But we still didn’t have trousers to cover (覆盖) our legs.

It was the worst day of my life. When we got home that night, my legs were covered in big red bites (叮伤). My brother’s legs were, too.

Now, when I hear the sound of a mosquito, I will think of that ▲ day. It gave me a great lesson—always read the instructions!