—________, it's kind of boring.

A small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree and it has been there for the past ten years or so.

It all began because my husband Justin hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas. Overspending was one thing, but compared to the difficult experience of choosing gifts—running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and a pair of gloves for Grandma…, spending money is nothing. I felt too tired to think of any special gifts.

Knowing Justin felt the same way, I decided one year not to buy the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so on. I reached for something special just for Justin. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling (摔跤) at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored (赞助) by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in such worn-out shoes that shoe strings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, while our boys were in their blue and gold uniforms and new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was shocked to see that the other team were wrestling without wearing helmets (头盔) to protect their ears. Well, our boys ended up defeating them. We took every weight class.

Justin, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won, " he said. "They have a lot potential (潜力) , but losing like this could take the heart out of them." Justin loved kids—all kids, and he knew them, having coached little league football and baseball. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought different kinds of wrestling helmets and shoes. I sent them to inner-city church without leaving my name.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Justin what I had done and that was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and since then the envelope has become the highlight of our Christmas.

Alan was a skinny old man who lived all alone. One day he got1bad cold and he called for a doctor. While the doctor 2 Alan, he asked, "Don't you have a friend 3 could come and take care of you?"

"No, I've never had 4 friends," the old man said.

"You've lived here all your life and never had a friend?" the doctor said 5surprise.

"I'm 64 years old, but I've never met anyone I6 call a friend," Alan said. "If it isn't one thing wrong with them, it's another."

"Our village head, Robin, will surely help you if he 7 you are sick," the doctor said.

"It's so boring 8 to Robin," Alan added. "You'd imagine there was nothing in this world 9 his crops and his wonderful, healthy pigs."

"Then what about Max, the one that lives down the road?"

"A selfish man, though he's smart and 10 to talk to," Alan continued. "He visited me a lot before. But he'd come only when he felt like 11 so. I don't call that neighborly."

"You can't bring up anything against Toby. Everyone loves him," the doctor laughed.

"Right." Agreed Alan. "If I let Toby 12 on my doorstep, he would do so. But he's13noisy that I can't stand him for more than five minutes."

"I'm afraid you see too much of your neighbors' 14 and you're blind to what good people they actually are, " the doctor said. "You're a hard nut to crack, old man! Anyway, please call me if you need me." The doctor left and not a word of "thank you" 15.

—Sorry, Mr. Green. I won't break rules anymore.

—Of course the ways they study, I think.