I never knew how well Mother could keep a trust until I was going through her things after she died．I discovered something I had 1 forgotten, something that happened to me as a child．
One night, as I lay in bed 2 my sisters and I had said our prayers, I recalled the events of the day and how 3 I behaved toward Mother．“I must make things right before going to sleep, ” I thought．
Quietly I 4 out of bed and picked up pencil and paper from the dresser, then tiptoed into the hall．The 5 from the living room shone dimly．I knew Mother was downstairs mending socks．
I quickly 6 a note asking Mother to forgive me for being so 7 ．I didn't want my brothers and sisters to know my 8 , so I added a postscript： “Please don't let anyone see this．” Then I quietly moved 9 my parents’ bedroom and put the letter under Mother's pillow．
The next morning, when I 10 my bed after breakfast．I unexpectedly found a 11 note under my pillow．Mother wrote that she loved me and 12 me．
This became my 13 of apologizing whenever I talked back or disobeyed．Mother always left a return note, but she never 14 our under-the-pillow messages in front of the family．Even when we were 15 , she never mentioned them when we brothers and sisters recalled our childhood．
When mother 16 , I had to go through her personal belongings．In her desk was a bundle of notes tied with a faded ribbon．On top was a message in her handwriting．It read, “In the event of my death, please 17 these．”
I 18 the packet and glanced at the handwriting on the bottom．To my surprise I 19 my childish writing, “P．S．Please don't let anyone see this．Love, Edie．”
I gently placed the unopened bundle in the 20 along with other things for the rubbish burner．“Lord, ” I prayed “make me like my mother．”
I never knew how well Mother could keep a trust until I was going through her things after she died．I discovered something I had 1 forgotten, something that happened to as a child．
One night, as I lay in bed 2 my sisters and I had said our prayers, I recalled the events of the day and how 3 I behaved toward Mother．“I must make things right before going to sleep,” I thought．
Quietly I 4 out of bed and picked up pencil and paper from the dresser, then tiptoed into the hall．The 5 from the living room shone dimly．I knew Mother was downstairs mending socks．
I quickly 6 a note asking Mother to forgive me for being so 7 ．I didn't want my brothers and sisters to know my 8 , so I added a postscript：“Please don't let anyone see this．” Then I quietly moved 9 my parents' bedroom and put the letter under Mother's pillow．
The next morning, when I 10 my bed after breakfast．I unexpectedly found a 11 note under my pillow．Mother wrote that she loved me and 12 me．
This became my 13 of apologizing whenever I talked back or disobeyed．Mother always left a return note, but she never 14 our under-the-pillow messages in front of the family．Even when we were 15 , she never mentioned them when we brothers and sisters recalled our childhood．
When mother 16 , I had to go through her personal belongings．In her desk was a bundle of notes tied with a faded ribbon．On top was a message in her handwriting．It read , “In the event of my death, please 17 these．”
I 18 the packet and glanced at the handwriting on the bottom．To my surprise I 16 my childish writing, “P．S．Please don't let anyone see this．Love, Edie．”
I gently glanced the unopened bundle in the 20 along with other things for the rubbish burner．“Lord,” I prayed “make me like my mother．”
One day I was doing an experiment in front of the classroom, wearing my favorite shirt．A voice came, “Nice shirt”．Then another 1 said, “That shirt belonged to my dad．Jimmy’s mother works for my family．We meant to throw the shirt away, but gave 2 to her instead．” Hearing the words, I was embarrassed．It was Mike．Mom worked for his family．
In the evening, I told my mom what had happened．She was silent for a while and then called her employer, “I will 3 work for your family．” That night, she knew her life’s 4 was something greater．She decided to find a more meaningful job．
The next day she 5 with the headmaster of a local public school．She was told that she could not teach without a proper education．So Mom decided to 6 a university．
A year later, she went back to the headmaster．He said, “You are serious, aren’t you? I think I have a 7 for you as a teacher’s assistant．This opportunity deals with some mentally disabled children with little or 8 chance of learning．” Mom accepted the opportunity very 9 ．
For almost three years, she saw many teachers give up on the children and 10 , feeling upset．Then one day, the headmaster 11 in her classroom, saying, “We have watched how you 12 the children over the last three years and admire your hard-working spirit．We all agree that you should be the 13 of this class．”
My mom spent over 20 years there．I was proud of her 14 she never gave up and also showed me how to deal with 15 situations．During her career, she was chosen as “Teacher of the Year”．
Shirley Allen loved to sing and play the piano．She studied music in college and her 1 was to become a concert pianist or blues singer．
Everything 2 when she was 20 years old．She became sick with what doctors 3 was typhoid fever(伤寒)and she almost died．Doctors gave her medicine to help her get well, but the medicine 4 her to become 5 deaf．She could no longer hear the music which she had always 6 ．
Shirley would never give up playing the piano, 7 she did decide to change 8 ．She transferred to Gallaudet University and studied English．In 1964 Shirley graduated from Gallaudet and looked for 9 ．She wanted to be 10 and work full-time．
For three years, Shirley worked as a clerk in Washington, D．C． 11 , in 1967 she was asked to work at Gallaudet University as a dorm supervisor(宿舍监管员)．Shirley supervised young women who 12 in the university during the school year．She also taught English．Somehow she found time to 13 graduate school at Howard University in Washington, D．C．In 1972, Shirley received her M．A．degree．
Always 14 a new challenge, in 1973 Shirley became a professor at National Technical Institute for the Deaf(NTID),which 15 deaf and hard-of-hearing students technical and professional training．
This 16 woman became the first black deaf female in the world to receive her Ph．D．She made 17 in 1992, 18 she received the highest degree in education from the University of Rochester in New York．
Dr．Shirley Jeanne Allen has traveled many roads and 19 many rainbows searching for her dream．With courage and 20 , she never gave up．
“Can I see my baby?”the happy new mother asked．When the baby was placed in her arms and she was 1 ．The baby had been born without ears．
Time 2 that the baby’s hearing was perfect．It was only his 3 that was damaged．When he rushed home from school one day and 4 himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed, 5 that he would have many heartbreaks in his life．
He grew up and became a 6 with his classmates．He might 7 have been class president, but for that．The boy’s father 8 with the family physician in secret．“Could 9 be done?”the father asked．“I believed I could 10 on a pair of outer ears, if they could be got,”the doctor answered．So the 11 began for a person who would make such a 12 for a young man．
Two years went by．Then the father said,“You are going to the hospital, son．Mother and I have someone who will give the ears you need． 13 it’s a secret,”said the father．The operation was very 14 , and a new person appeared．“But I must know!”he urged his father．“Who 15 so much for me?I could never do enough for him．”“I do not believe you could．”said the father．
The secret was 16 for years till he stood with his father over his mother’s coffin．Slowly and 17 , his father raised his mother’s thick brown hair to 18 that his mother had no outer ears．“Mother said she was 19 she never let her hair be cut,”he whispered gently,“and nobody ever thought she was less 20 , did they?”