I asked my dad if I had ever made him cry before because I couldn't remember ever seeing him cry.

"There was once," he said.

He told me that when I was one year old, he put a pen, a piece of paper money and a toy in front of me. He wanted to see which one I would pick. It's a tradition that a lot of Chinese people do when their kids are one year old. According to this tradition, it shows what the kid will value most when he or she grows up. For example, if the kid takes the pen, it means he or she will be an intelligent person in the future. If the kid takes the money, it means he or she will value money more than others and become rich. If the kid takes the toy, it means he or she will like fun things and play a lot.

My father was doing it because he was curious (好奇的). It was interesting for him to see which one I would pick.

He said that I just sat there and stared at the three things. He sat across from me and waited to see the result.

According to him, I moved toward him and he held his breath. Then I pushed everything aside and went right into his arms. Tears (眼泪) came to his eyes. He didn't realize that he was one of the choices.

And that was the first and only time I made him cry.

When I was little, I was really little. But my dream was big. I dreamed of being a basketball player. I tried out for the teams at school, but I was never given a chance.

As I got older, I did grow a little bigger, but not a lot bigger. On my 12th birthday, I decided to try a new sport: running. I told Grandpa. "I'm going to be an athlete."

"Dave." Grandpa began gently, "if you can't be big, you can do something big."

I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday. On my 13th birthday, I did it again, but I added an extra mile. On my 14th birthday, I ran 14 miles. 15 on my 15th, 16 on my 16th, and you guessed it—17 miles on my 17th birthday.

All this running inspired（激发）another big dream. Someday, I'd run the Boston Marathon（波士顿马拉松赛）. I told Grandpa about my decision.

"But, Dave, you haven't trained for the marathon. Are you sure you're ready?" Grandpa asked. But he still promised to walk over and cheer me on.

I ran fast that day, But I fell at Mile 18 and was driven to the hospital. Later that night, I called Grandpa and told him I failed.

"No," he said calmly, "you didn't fail. You discovered something."

"I did?" I asked.

"Yes, you discovered that big dreams don't just come true. They take work. If you train and work hard, I promise to wait for you next year and cheer you on."

I trained every day, running miles and miles. Sadly, just two months into my training, Grandpa died. He wouldn't be waiting for my second Boston Marathon. I decided I'd run for him.

That day, I ran fast. "Keep going! You can do it!" His words filled my head as I forced my legs to make each painful step. As I crossed the finish line, I threw my arms in the air and cried, "Grandpa, we did it!"

Katie's father was at the airport waiting to meet her. She was going to spend a week with him, and usually she really enjoyed their visits. But this time was different: her dad was getting married, and Katie wasn't at all sure if she liked the idea.

On the way from the airport to her dad's house, Katie almost kept silent. Finally, her dad asked, "Do you want to talk about it, Katie?"

For a moment, Katie sat silently. Then she said, "I'm sorry, Dad. I just don't think I want you to get married."

"I thought you liked Celia," Katie's dad said.

"I do like Celia," Katie answered, "It's not that at all. I just don't know if I want her for a stepmother — that's totally different."

"It really is different," her dad agreed, "But I hope you'll get to like having Celia as a stepmother. She likes you a lot, you know, and I'll bet Megan will, too."

"Who's Megan?" Katie asked. She hadn't heard that name before.

"She's Celia's daughter," her dad replied, "She is your age, actually, so maybe you'll even have something in common."

After dropping Katie's luggage (行李) off at her dad's house, Katie and her dad went to meet Celia and Megan at a restaurant. They were going to have dinner together. When they got to the restaurant, Celia and Megan were already there. Celia introduced Megan to Katie. At first, Katie didn't know what to say to Megan. But then, Megan said, "Mom, don't forget I have swimming practice tomorrow."

"You like to swim?" Katie asked hopefully.

"I love it—I'm on our school swimming team," Megan answered excitedly, "Do you swim?"

"I love to swim, too" Katie said with a smile. Maybe having Celia as a stepmother wasn't going to be so bad after all.