Mearl Jacobs’ body was at the funeral home．The memorial service was 1 for the next day．We 2 in the family room to tell stories, sharing 3 of her．She had lived a life 4 with stories．Most people didn’t know that she had worked for thirty years at Rockwall International to help the homeless, or that 5 she really didn’t care much for baseball, she loved listening to the 6 because her son loved baseball．
Before long the 7 turned from stories about Mearl to stories of how she changed and 8 the lives in the room．
Her daughter Carol, said, “Just a few hours before Mom died she said she wanted to go home．I asked her if she 9 back to her apartment．She said, ‘NO!’ I asked, ‘Home in Heaven?’ ‘YES!’”
A series of love and 10 was realized that night．Mearl had lived a life that affected the young and old 11 ．When she did so, you became a different person, a 12 and reformed person．She was 13 that way．She knew how to show the things that really 14 in the life．She 15 for values that she held dear and she always seemed to know how to influence people and to accept them “as is”．He grandkids talked of her 16 acceptance of them, no matter what．
Some things have to be seen to be understood, such as love, forgiveness and acceptance．Mearl knew how to help you 17 ．She had always shown total 18 to the family and friends－to people．
The next day Mearl was 19 the topic．We buried the body, but she lives in all those, present and 20 ．She is always there, giving and loving．
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．
When I was a little girl, every Sunday my family of six would put on our best clothes and go to Sunday School and then church．The 1 in elementary school would all meet together to sing songs, and then later divide into 2 based on their ages．
One Easter Sunday, all the kids 3 with big eyes and big 4 about what the Easter Bunny(复活节小兔)had brought． 5 all of the kids shared their stories with 6 , one young boy , whom I shall call Bobby, sat 7 ．One of the teachers , noticing this, said to him, “And what did the Easter Bunny 8 you?”He replied, “My mom 9 the door by accident so the Easter Bunny couldn't get 10 because he hadn't got a key．”
This sounded like a 11 idea to all of us kids, so we kept on going with the stories．My mom knew the true story, 12 ．Bobby's mom was a single parent , and she suspected(怀疑)that they just couldn't 13 the Easter Bunny．
After Sunday School was over, everyone went off to 14 ．But my mom announced that we were going home 15 ．At home, she explained that to make Bobby feel 16 , we were going to pretend(假装)to be the Easter Bunny , make a basket of our candies for him and 17 it at church．We all donated(捐赠)some to the basket, and 18 back to church．There, mom hung the basket over the hanger(挂钩)and attached(附上)a(n) 19 ：
Dear Bobby,
I'm sorry I 20 your house last night．Happy Easter．
