When you're a preteen, a huge problem might be that you just have to have a new rock-rap CD, 1 your parents won't give you the money for it.I thought life was so 2 when things like this happened-until September 11, 2001.
I was in P.E.when the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.As soon as I got home and for weeks after, I saw the disaster 3 on TV.Seeing the innocent people running for their 4 as the debris(瓦砾)started coming down the fire and smoke rose out of the 5 brought tears to my eyes.I couldn't help imagining what the people on the 6 and in the buildings were thinking and going through, not 7 what was going on.I admired the courage of the firefighters who rushed in and risked their own lives to 8 others.It tore my heart apart to watch the 9 looks on the faces of so many people who didn't know if their loved ones were dead or alive while 10 in all the debris.
Then it 11 me:All my life I had thought mainly of myself.I had it easy in life and had been taking it all for granted.
A feeling of coldness 12 down my back, and I cried just thinking of the possibility that it could have easily 13 to my family.My mom or dad could have been killed like that, and I would never, ever see them again.I began to evaluate what a real 14 in life was.
This disaster 15 me that awful things can happen to anyone at any time.Now when my mom or dad or sister go somewhere, even if it's just 16 the store, I try to remember to tell them that I love them because I know there is a 17 that I may never tell them that 18 .
Not getting a new CD is not going to make or 19 my life.I can live with those kinds of problems.But losing someone I love would 20 make my life miserable.
In my third year as a high school athletics coach, I gave a speech telling students and parents about the benefits of football.I gave the same 1 each year, aimin g at recruiting(招收)new team members.I talked about 2 football wasn't just for 3 athletes and how everyone could 4 from it.This year, a 5 looking couple approached me after my speech.They said their son really wanted to play football.They had tried to 6 him out of it, but he had his heart 7 on joining the team.
When they told me his name, my heart sank.Michael was five feet and ten inches tall and weighed about 108 pounds.He was a 8 boy, the constant target of other kids' jokes, and as far as I knew he had never 9 sports.I knew he would never 10 it through football practice, let 11 as a player.But we told them we could give it a try.
On the opening day of practice, Michael was the first player on the field, we did 30 minutes of warming-up 12 starting a one-mile jog around the track.I 13 my eye on Michael.At 50 yards he fell, and I helped him to his feet.“Michael,”I said,“Why don't you just 14 the mile?”He said in tears that he wanted to run with the others, so I let him go on. 15 he fell, but each time 16 himself up.
The same thing happened every day for weeks, and Michael gained strength both 17 and physically.By the last week of practice, Michael could run the mile without falling, we had 18 only one game that season, 19 the team cheered louder for Michael's run than the victory they had, Afterward, Michael approached me, and I told him how 20 I was of him.