A particular picture especially touched me while reading news article about a tornado (龙卷风) just happened in a village around Florida. In the picture, a young woman with a worried face stood in front of an entirely destroyed mobile home. A small girl, three or four years old, stood at her side, clutching (攥紧) at her skirt and stared into the camera with a pair of eyes full of fear. At the end of the article, a telephone number was offered.
This would be a good chance to teach my kid to help those in need. I showed the picture to my six-year-old daughter, Meghan, explaining what happened in the picture. "We have so much. But these poor people now have nothing," I said. "Let's share what we have with them."
I brought a large box and placed it on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously as I filled the boxes with old clothes that we don't want any more. Then she left and soon came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She stopped in front of the box for a moment, gave the doll a final kiss, then put it gently on top of the clothes.
"Oh, Honey," I said. "You don't have to give away Lucy. You love her so much." Meghan nodded seriously, with held-back tears.
" ▲ ." Megan said.
I stared at Meghan for a long moment and didn't know what to say. I suddenly realized that it's easy to give away things that we don't want, but harder to let go off things we value, isn't it? True generosity (慷慨) is a three-year-old girl offering her favorite dol to a little girl she doesn't know because she hopes it will bring this child as much pleasure as it brought her. The true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.
I, who had wanted to teach, had been taught.
a. My daughter gave away her doll.
b. A tornado happened around Florida.
c. I saw a picture on the newspaper.
d. I filled the box with old clothes.
e. I learned a lesson from my daughter.
