“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good！ Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come here, please sit down with me and have a rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…
This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad… When we grow up, we leave them, and only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy. You may think that the boy is cruel to the tree but that's how all of us are treating our parents.
很久以前有一棵苹果树。一个小男孩每天都喜欢来到树旁玩耍。他爬到树顶，吃苹果，在树荫里打盹……他爱这棵树，树也爱和他一起玩。
随着时间的流逝，小男孩长大了。他不再到树旁玩耍了。
一天男孩回到树旁，看起来很悲伤。“来和我玩吧！”树说。
“我不再是小孩了，我不会再到树下玩耍了。”男孩答道，“我想要玩具，我需要钱来买。”
“很遗憾，我没有钱……但是你可以采摘我的所有苹果拿去卖。这样你就有钱了。”男孩很兴奋。他摘掉树上所有的苹果，然后高兴地离开了。自从那以后男孩没有回来。树很伤心。
一天，男孩回来了，树非常兴奋。“来和我玩吧。”树说。
“我没有时间玩。我得为我的家庭工作。我们需要一个房子来遮风挡雨，你能帮我吗？”
“很遗憾，我没有房子。但是，你可以砍下我的树枝来建房。”因此，男孩砍下所有的树枝，高高兴兴地离开了。
看到他高兴，树也很高兴。但是，自从那时起男孩没再出现，树又变得孤独、伤心起来。
突然，在一个夏日，男孩回到树旁，树很高兴。“来和我玩吧！”树说。
“我很伤心，我开始老了。我想去航海放松自己。你能不能给我一条船？”
“用我的树干去造一条船，你就能航海了，你会高兴的。”于是，男孩砍倒树干去造船。他航海去了，很长一段时间未露面。
许多年后男孩终于回来了。
“很遗憾，我的孩子，我再也没有任何东西可以给你了。没有苹果给你……”树说。
“我没有牙齿啃。” 男孩答道。
“没有树干供你爬。”
“现在我老了，爬不上去了。” 男孩说。
“我真的想把一切都给你……我唯一剩下的东西是快要死去的树墩。”树含着眼泪说。
“现在，我不需要什么东西，只需要一个地方来休息。经过了这些年我太累了。”男孩答道。 “太好了！老树墩就是倚着休息的最好地方。过来，和我一起坐下休息吧。”男孩坐下了，树很高兴，含泪而笑……
这是一个发生在每一个人身上的故事。那棵树就像我们的父母。我们小的时候，喜欢和爸爸妈妈玩……长大后，便离开他们，只有在我们需要父母亲，或是遇到了困难的时候，才会回去找他们。尽管如此，父母却总是有求必应，为了我们的幸福，无私地奉献自己的一切。你也许觉得那个男孩很残忍，但我们何尝不是这样呢？
Father and Son in An Earthquake地震中的父与子——父爱是一诺千金
No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you！
In 1989 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes.
In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.
After the unforgettably initial shock, he remembered the promise he had made to his son: "No matter what, I ll always be there for you！" And tears began to fill his eyes.
As he looked at the pile of ruins that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son.He began to direct his attention towards where he walked his son to class at school each morning. Remembering his son s classroom would be in the back right corner of the building, he rushed there and started digging through the ruins.
As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying: "My son！" "My daughter！" Other well meaning parents tried to pull him off what was left of the school, saying: "It s too late！ They’re all dead！ You can’t help！ Go home！ Come on, face reality, there s nothing you can do！"
To each parent he responded with one line: "Are you going to help me now?" And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone.
The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off the school s ruins saying, "Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere. You’re in danger. We ll take care of it. Go home." To which this loving, caring American father asked, "Are you going to help me now?"
The police came and said, "You re angry, anxious and it s over. You’re endangering others. Go home. We ll handle it！" To which he replied, "Are you going to help me now?" No one helped.
Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead?" He dug for eight hours...12 hours...24 hours...36 hours...then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a large stone and heard his son s voice.
He screamed his son’s name, "ARMAND！" He heard back, "Dad！?！ It’s me, Dad！ I told the other kids not to worry. I told em that if you were alive, you d save me and when you saved me, they d be saved. You promised, No matter what happens, I ll always be there for you！ You did it, Dad！"
"What s going on in there? How is it?" the father asked.
"There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you re here. When the building collapsed, it made a triangle, and it saved us."
"Come out, boy！"
"No, Dad！ Let the other kids out first, bcause I know you ll get me！ No matter what happens, I know you ll always be there for me！"
不管发生什么，我永远都会在你的身边！
1989年，一次8.2级的地震几乎铲平美国，在短短不到4分钟的时间里，夺去了3万多人的生命！
在彻底的破坏与混乱之中，有位父亲将他的妻子在家里安顿好后，跑到他儿子就读的学校，而触目所见，却是被夷为平地的校园。
看到这令人伤心的一幕，他想起了曾经对儿子所作的承诺：“不论发生什么事，我都会在你身边。”至此，父亲热泪满眶。
目睹曾经的学校成为了一堆瓦砾，真叫人绝望。但父亲的脑中仍然牢记着他对儿子的诺言。他开始努力回忆每天早上送儿子上学的必经之路，终于记起儿子的教室应该就在那幢建筑物后面，位于右边的角落里，他跑到那儿，开始在碎石砾中挖掘，搜寻儿子的下落。
当这位父亲正在挖掘时，其他束手无策的学生家长赶到现场，揪心地叫着：“我的儿子呀！”“我的女儿呀！”一些好意的家长试图把这位父亲劝离现场，告诉他“一切都太迟了！他们全死了！这样做没用的！回去吧，这样做只会使事情更糟”。
面对种种劝告，这位父亲的回答只有一句话：“你们愿意帮我吗？”然后继续进行挖掘工作，在废墟中寻找他的儿子。
消防队长出现了，他也试图把这位父亲劝走，对他说：“火灾频现，四处都在发生爆炸，你在这里太危险了，这边的事我们会处理，你回家吧！”对此，这位慈爱、关切的父亲仍然回答：“你们要帮我吗？”
警察赶到现场，对他说：“你现在又气又急，该结束了，你在危及他人，回家吧！我们会处理一切的。”这位父亲依旧回答：“你们愿意帮我吗？”然而，人们无动于衷。
为了弄清楚儿子是死是活，这位父亲独自一人鼓起勇气，继续进行他的工作。他挖掘了8小时，12小时，24小时，36小时，38小时后，父亲推开了一块巨大的石头，听到了儿子的声音。
父亲尖叫着：“阿曼德！”儿子的回音听到了：“爸爸吗！？是我，爸，我告诉其他的小朋友不要着急。我告诉他们如果你活着，你会来救我的。如果我获救了，他们也就获救了。你答应过我，不论发生什么，你永远都会在我的身边，你做到了，爸！”
“你那里的情况怎样？”父亲问。
“我们有33个，只有14个活着。爸，我们好害怕，又渴又饿，谢天谢地，你在这儿。教室倒塌时，刚好形成一个三角形的洞，救了我们。”
“快出来吧！儿子！”
“不，爸，让其他小朋友先出来吧！因为我知道你会接我的！不管发生什么事，我知道你永远都会来到我的身边！”
A Good Heart to Lean on善心可依
When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was severely crippled and very short, and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. I would inwardly squirm at the unwanted attention. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let on.