感恩節感恩

Dear parents,

I hope all of you passed a wonderful day at Saint-Bruno national park. Some of you had difficulty to find the place. I feel sorry for giving the address that is not very accurately. Also, I understand for some of you (especially for the parents with toddlers) the hiking was quite intensive. It took us about 2.5-3 hours.

I would like to share with you a story: about 7 years ago, my family visited this mountain with some friends. After enjoying the beautiful autumn scenery, we decided to return. Without following the sign carefully, we got lost in the mountain. After several hours of hiking, it seemed we could not go out. My younger son (江淮) was about 1 years old and elder one (江枫)was about 5 who used up his energy and did not want to walk any more. None of us had  mobile phone to call 911 and it became darker and darker. It was hard to follow the path due to lack of light. Finally we were able to leave the park and reached the city of Saint Bruno. But it’s not the place where we parked our car. Sitting on side of the street, totally exhausted, our legs refused to move a single step. A van passed by and stopped. We explained our situation to the driver (a lady). She told us she needed to return her kids back to home and then she would be back to help us. After about 15 minutes, she picked up two of us (the rest stayed because her van could not load all of us) and headed towards parking lot to find our two cars. Afraid of us lost again, she let us following her van to the original place. Around 10pm, we safely arrived home.

The experience strengthen my confidence to the humanity. And I know the best way to thank this unknown helper is to help the others even though she/he is stranger. Maybe the little kindness and help can leave the tremendous impact on others.

One year ago, my son’s soccer coach (who was a volunteer)  paid the group photo fee for us during our absence and delivered the photo to our house. When we expressed our gratitude and wanted to give him the fee, he refused and asked us to relay this kindness towards others who are under same situations. “Then we will create a better world!” he said so.

I may share this in the class. I know the experience is personal, but the underlying principle is universal.

Thanks a lot for your support and trust. Happy Thanksgiving holiday!

fan