Kim Stemple was a special-education teacher In 2012, she found herself1to an IV (静脉注射) in a Boston hospital being2for one of several diseases she had been diagnosed with, including lupus (狼疮) The normally lively Stemple was3getting upset a lot. And then a friend gave her a4.
Before she got too sick to5, Stemple had been a marathon runner. The medal came from a racing6who had just finished a half marathon in Las Vegas and hoped the present would7a kind of similar pick-me-up (提神剂). It worked like a(n)8—and then some.
After Stemple9the medal from her hospital IV pole, other patients said they wanted medals too. That got Stemple10. "A medal is a simple way to give a(n)11message," she told pilotonline.com. And so was born her12, We Finish Together, which collects medals from13—runners, dancers, swimmers, singers, and even spelling bee winners—and donates them to all sorts of people in14.
Receivers have included hospital patients, people of homeless shelters, and old soldiers. Part of the process is15with the donators writing a personalized16on the ribbon (缎带). "This gives them a connection to someone," says Stemple. "If they receive a medal, they will know someone17."
Can a simple medal really make a18? Yes, says Joan Musarra, who develops pulmonary fibrosis (肺纤维). "I opened my package containing my new medal and the notes of positive, warm thoughts. I was19," she wrote to Stemple. "At that moment, I was sitting on my sofa breathing through an oxygen tube because my lungs have become so worse. It means so much to me to feel that I am not20."
