When I was in the third grade，I was picked to be the princess (公主) in the school play. For weeks my mother helped me practice my lines. But once on the stage，every word would disappear from my head. Then my teacher told me she had written a narrator's (解说者的) part for the play，and asked me to change roles. Though I didn't tell my mother what had happened that day，she sensed my unhappiness and asked if I wanted to take a walk in the yard.

It was a lovely spring day. We could see dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass. My mother said carelessly，“I think I am going to dig up all these weeds. From now on，we'll have only roses in this garden. ”

“But I like dandelions，” Iprotested. “All flowers are beautiful！”

“Yes，every flower gives pleasure in its own way，doesn't it？And that is true of people，too，” my mother said.

When I realized that she had guessed my pain，I started to cry and told her the truth.

“But you will be a beautiful narrator，” she said，reminding me of how much I loved to read stories aloud.

Over the next few weeks，with her help，I learned to take pride in the role. The big day finally came. A few minutes before the play，my teacher came over to me. “Your mom asked me to give this to you，” she said，handing me a dandelion. After the play，I took the flower home，laughing that I was perhaps the only person who would keep such a weed.

What happened when I was a 9-year-old boy would be in my memory forever.

I stood outside in my T-shirt, watching the house where I grew up burned to the ground. My grandma’s bedroom was just next to mine and my brother’s. A fire broke out there and woke her up. Hearing her shouting, my elder brother had jumped and run from room to room quickly to wake everyone up in the house. The house, over 50 years old, was made of wood. Before we could do anything, the fire had been in every room in the house.

I stood there shivering(发抖) while the fire was burning my books, clothes and toys. I watched helplessly while my mom cried and my dad sighed (叹气). I wanted to know what was going to happen to us.

As I looked around, I realized something for the first time. I saw my elder brother running to help. I saw my grandma and dad hugging each other and my mom was holding our little dog. I realized that we were all alive at the moment. Everything important had survived(存活) in the fire. We could survive without the things that were burning. We would all be around to love each other for many years to come.

I still think of that fire in the night. It helped me to become who I am today. It showed me that the love we share is far more than the things we have. Live your life for the things that matter, not for the things you own. Love others. Let the “fire” inside of you make this world a warmer place.

It's never too late to do what you want to do. Grandma Moses grew up on a farm. As a child, she loved drawing. But she hardly ever did it because of the busy farm work.

Grandma Moses spent all her life on the farm. When she was old and found farm work difficult, she started to paint at the age of 78.

An art lover found Grandma Moses painting in a shop in 1938, He bought them and the next day he went to her farm and bought all her paintings, Soon Grandma Moses became famous.In 1940,at the age of 80,she had her first painting show in New York. many people loved the bright colors and beautiful farm views(风景)in her works.

Grandma Moses died in 1961,at the age of 101.She painted over 1.600 paintings in the late part of her life.“ Do your favorite things, and you will finally be successful,” she once said.