When I was 8 years old, I once decided to run away from home．With my suitcase 1 and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door and said to Mom, “I'm leaving．”
“If you want to 2 , that's all right,” she said．“But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way．” I 3 my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor heavily and started for the door again．
“Wait a minute,” Mom said．“I want your 4 back．You didn't wear anything when you arrived．” This really angered me．I tore my clothes off－shoes, socks, underwear and all－and 5 , “Can I go now?” “Yes,” Mom answered, “but once you close that door, don't expect to come back．”
I was so 6 that I slammed(砰地关上)the door and stepped out on the front porch． 7 I realized that I was outside, with nothing on．Then I noticed that down the street, two neighbor girls were walking toward our house．I ran to 8 behind a big tree in our yard at once．After a while, I was 9 the girls had passed by．I dashed to the front door and banged on it loudly．
“Who's there?” I heard．
“It's Billy! Let me in!”
The voice behind the 10 answered, “Billy doesn't live here anymore．He ran away from home．” Glancing behind me to see if anyone else was coming, I begged, “Aw, c'mon, Mom! I'm 11 your son．Let me in!”
The door inched open and Mom's smiling face appeared．“Did you change your 12 about running away?” she asked．
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．
