夕照楼阁
很少有机会在晴朗的傍晚登临高楼，眺望这个城市夕照下的光景。平时只在上课时才可能护栏到六楼，但我不习惯坐于窗下，偶尔为之，亦不逢傍晚或者晴天。今天我第一次认真地细细品鉴这个城市的味道，而且在其我以为最美的时分。虽仅六楼，不能俯瞰全景，但隐约与朦胧更增魅力。我发现我对周身的环境了解的太少，从未从另一个角度发现一些东西。就拿眼下的这条街来说，我竟不知道它可以通向学校的南门，虽然走过无数次，可从未想一直走到底，那样就不必每次折返到东门。乡村的傍永磁直流电机晚我见得多了，尤其是冬日，闲索无事，每值日落时分常在原间漫步。原本萧索的景象在夕阳下却迷离起来，别有一番风情，就连一沟死水也晃动着彤影，给将要来临的漫漫长夜平添了几分温暖。城市的傍晚并不是太引人注意，毕竟很早的时候就亮起万家灯火，何况电能表此刻人们都匆匆赶着回家，不太有心情在阳台上看日照下高楼反防静电地板射出的迷人天光。高楼林立、阡陌交通的城市向来给人以冰冷的印象，可此刻在一片祥和的落日余晖下却给人无限温馨与遐想。似乎每栋楼里的人都在享受他们的温情时光。参差不齐的楼宇一直延伸到光之深处，氤氲了柔和之气。我第一次感觉城市的夜是在延续一种美好，而非只有食物垃圾处理器喧嚣与丑恶。在这初冬的时季，感受如此温馨，足以让人忘却寒冷，也让我失落许久的心得到一丝慰藉。早已经习惯了一个人经历着所有的所有,哭过笑过,但始终还是认为一个人是一种生活上的享受.
　　　　一个人的时间并不难度过,眼看不知不觉,呆在这座城市已快5年了.想想当初,我是投靠表后视镜哥而来的,在他的照顾下找了一份工作,过了半年后他和表嫂一起回家就离开了佛山.从此我就正式的一个人生活在这里.第一份工作,足足两年的时间结束了,后来我自己决定跳出那个圈子重新再寻找舞台.07年的4月进入一家公司直到现在.很感谢公司给了我许多的展现机会,自然而然的增长了不少见识,对自身的能力和素质也都得到了阶段性的提升．实际上，这座城市改变了我很多，很多．也许，是因为一个地方呆久的原因气动打标机产生感情了，喜欢这座城市，那建筑，那街道，那人群，早已适应．刚来这儿的时候我一个人租房子住了两年多，后来一直是与同事一起合租的，现在她搬出去了，我又回到了从前一个人日子．自由自在一个人的空间，虽然我也早就想一个人住了，突然间她一走，只有我一个人守着这间房觉得又大又空很冷清．我嘛，蛮喜欢一个人生活的，很洒脱，很随意，很自我．想早睡也不会被吵醒，想听音乐的时候由自己，看书的时候也可以很安静，练瑜珈的时候也有足够三氯异氰尿酸的空间供自己，要用电脑的时候可以尽管用．坐的姿态想怎样就怎样，东西放在任何地方也没人理，一个人的地盘一个人当家作主，随心所欲，生活有规有律．不知道，我是不是天生就适合过单身族的生活．自己赚钱自己花，想买什么买什么，想吃多少就吃多少，拿着自己的钱大购物的时候感觉特别的爽，对我来说，用自己努力赚回来的钱，买东西给自己或是给家人时心头都有一种幸福感．总之，一个人的时候我总是更好的照顾自己，要让自己心情放松，对自己好，让自己过好点，吃好，睡好，身体也要好．照顾好自己，为了自己，也为了家人，告诉他们我一个人过得很好，经过我的努力，相信我以后还会防静电地板过得更好．一个人很多时候真的觉得很不错，因为是一个人，时而还是会觉得有点空虚．我也会问自己，为什么到现在我还是一个人．的确，我是个乖乖女，身边那些玩得比较疯的女孩我从来不羡慕她们．在生活上我可以打理得有条不紊，工作上也可以表现得游韧有余，在学校我也算个积极分子，唯有我的人缘怎么会这样？是环境原因也是性格原因吧，如今我的朋友圈子小得真可怜．更伤心的是本为那些可以当朋友的人不能再接触，生怕被人误会铸件有什么关系就不好了，所以很多时候只能把自己关在家里最安全．看看自己身边朋友也不少，可是为何无一知己．如果身边有一帮很好的朋友，一个人清静之余也可以和朋友一起吃饭聊天，谈谈笑笑，误乐健身也是件很不错的事情．我不是一个耐不住寂寞的人，当然，有哪个女孩不希望身边有一个属于自己的男朋友．曾经那些与我擦肩而过的人都不是属于我的，不得不承认，时脑瘫而也会想，他可以早点出现就好了，真不知道还要等多久，无认多久我也会等下去．坦白的说，一个人在外生活生活这么，遇到这么多人，也不会因为孤单而随便找个人恋爱，打发时间，那样对我来说，实在办不到．我可以做到对一个追求我，而我不喜欢的人很冷，冷到他那蠢蠢欲动的心死去，便悄无声息地离我而去，在这个时候我真的是一个很无情的人，但我想说的是，如果自己根本不喜欢为何要去接受呢．我有自己的原则，不轻易接受一个人的爱，也不会鼓风机轻易爱一个人，选择不只是为了对自己负责更是为了对另一个人负责，我也不想伤害任何人，包括自己．身体里深藏着一根倔强神经，到底让我太虚幻还是太现实？这是一个永远也解不开，我的迷．
坐在车上，静静的靠在窗边，凝望着窗外那迷茫的夜色，明的、暗的、灰的、近办公楼装修的、远的。。。。。这正是万家灯火的时候，那一盏盏灯光从我眼前一晃而过，此时不由得让我想起那句广告词"人生就像旅行，在乎的不是目的，而是沿途的风景，还有看风景的心情"。看着那跳跃的灯火，很快又在眼前消失，又一年快到头了，在这个城市二年了，我依然不明白我的目的在何方，又何尝去看风景的心情时光的脚步奔流不息，转眼又是一年，从我踏入社会快八、九年了，从前的斗志也因为时间而把我磨广告灯箱的差不多了。那么多年过去了，就如千篇一律一样。有快乐的、悲伤的，仿佛就如昨日一样。感觉好像忘记了些什么，却又让我想起了什么。下了车，走在那条熟悉的道路上，身边来往的人群，喧闹的音乐，五彩的灯光，好像自己如一个陌路的行人，迟迟与这城市不相入。抬头仰望着天空，今晚天气不错，虽然带着那寒冷的气息，但是天空明月星稀，寒风轻怃，说不出的惬意。而边传来那喧闹的声音，让我感觉自己想起了矫平机蛙鸣的声音。曾经儿时的记忆慢慢浮现在眼前，踏在稻田的埂边，稻田中传来那虫、蛙的鸣叫声，稻穗在风中左右摇摆，青绿的小草在水渠中静静的竖立，远处传来赶牛娃的清亮的笑语，以及那低声的牛吼得声音；儿时的自己就是buy wedding dresses骑在牛背上长大。傍晚时分，夕阳的晚霞点燃了那灯火的光芒，虫子在草中发出阵阵的鸣声，蛙声也彼此起伏，好像谁也不让谁一样，用音乐来比武。倾听那虫蛙的优美伴奏，清风中传来阵阵的稻谷的清香。月空高照，这正是夜晚拿着手电筒在田埂上抓青蛙时候。青山绿树、小桥流水，河边的戏水声，一切的一切就bridal dresses如这残破的画，一点一点的在脑中愈合想起，这或许是我留在脑子最深刻的记忆，也是美好的时光让自己不能遗忘的岁月。

After all
Steve, a twelve-year-old boy with alcoholic parents, was aboutEd hardy clothing to be lost forever, by the U.S. education system. Remarkably, he could read, yet, in spite of his reading skills, Steve was failing. He had been failing since first grade, as he was passed on from grade to grade. Steve was a big boy, looking more like a teenager than a twelve year old, yet, Steve went unnoticed... until Miss White.Miss White was a smiling, young, beautifulBrass fittings redhead, and Steve was in love! For the first time in his young life, he couldn't take his eyes off his teacher; yet, still he failed. He never did his homework, and he was always in trouble with Miss White. His heart would break under her sharp words, and when he was punished for failing to turn in his homework, he felt just miserable! Still, he did not study.In the middle of the first semester of school, the entire seventh grade was tested for Converse all starbasic skills. Steve hurried through his tests, and continued to dream of other things, as the day wore on. His heart was not in school, but in the woods, where he often escaped alone, trying to shut out the sights, sounds and smells of his alcoholic home. No one checked on him to see if he was safe. No one knew he was gone, because no one was sober enoughNike Air Force one to care. Oddly, Steve never missed a day of school.Steve went home from school, thoughtful, that afternoon. Walking into the house, he took one look around. Both parents were passed out, in various stages of undress, and the stench was overpowering! He, quickly, gathered up his camping gear, a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, and this time...his sNike Dunk Lowchoolbooks. Grim faced　The following Monday he arrived at school on time, and he waited for Miss White to enter the classroom. She walked in, all sparkle and smiles! God, she was beautiful! He yearned for her smile to turn on him. It did not.Miss White, immediately, gave a quiz on the weekend homework. Steve hurried through the test, and wasnike air max tn the first to hand in his paper. With a look of surprise, Miss White took his paper. Obviously puzzled, she began to look it over. Steve walked back to his desk, his heart pounding within his chest. As he sat down, he couldn't resist another look at the lovely woman.Miss White's face was in total shock! She glanced up at Steve, then down, then up.Suddenly, her facenike air max broke into a radiant smile. The smartest boy in the seventh grade had just passed his first test!From that moment nothing was the same for Steve. Life at home remained the same, but life still changed. He discovered that not only could he learn, but he was good at it!He discovered that he could understand and retain knowledge, and that he could translate the things headidas superstar learned into his own life. Steve began to excel! And he continued this course throughout his school life.After high-school Steve enlisted in the Navy, and he had a successful military career. During that time, he met the love of his life, he raised a family, and he graduated from college Magna Cum Laude. During his Naval career, he inspired many young people, who without him, might not wholesale wedding dresseshave believed in themselves. Steve began a second career after the Navy, and he continues to inspire others, as an adjunct professor in a nearby collegeToday, I'm going to read you a story to let you know what people think about prayers. Because some of you might think that your prayers are the best. Now, do you know how to pray to the Lord? Maybe you know better than I do. OK, let's see if you know better than these people.
There was a village somewhere, at some time on our planet or maybe on another planet. In this village, there was a holy man. Every time the people had some problem, some difficulty or disaster, or something that didn't go right in the village, they would come to this holy man and ask him to help wholesale wedding dressesthem, like to pray to God and meditate for them, and see what was wrong. Then the holy man would retreat into a very special forest, and he would sit in a very, very special place. And then he would say a very, very special prayer. And then it happened that God always listened to his prayers somehow. So the villagers always got the help they needed.But then one Wholesale wedding dressesday, as with everyone else, he died. So now the villagers didn't know what to do. Because their troubles didn't die. The holy man died, but the troubles were still alive. And new troubles were born every day. It's funny how we die, but our troubles never die! So after the villagers thought for a long time, they decided that they would take their troubles to the holy man's successor.The successor of this holy man was not that holy; people knew that. But there was no one else now who was better than he. So people came to him and laid their problems in Bicycle helmetsfront of him, and asked him to help. So this not-so-holy man also went to the forest. And then he sat there and said a very special prayer. He didn't know what his master used to say, but now he said something special like, "Oh, my Lord! You know I am not a holy man." Well, at least he was a very honest man. "But surely you are not going to hold that against my people, are you? So listen to me and come to my assistance."And God thought, "That's reasonable enough. Even though this man is not holy, the village people have nothing to do with his lack of holiness." So God listened to this, and then helped the people all the same.So, people continued to come to this not-so-holy man, to have him pray to God and solve their problems. So far, so good. But you know what? It happened that this not-so-holy man alsoNike sneakers died. Ah, gosh! We have no end to the problems and no solution. The people also felt very confused now: What were they to do? So they tried to find another man, not even a holy one, and not even the successor of the other master, but someone more special, like maybe one who was sweeter than anyone else, or perhaps more diligent in his prayers.So they just picked one of the people from the congregation. And then they said, "Now it's your job. You pray for us. We have such-and-such problems. You must try." But it happened that this man didn't know anything about the previous two people. So he didn't even know where the forest was. Well, he knew of the forest, but he didn't know where the special place was. And he didn't even know any special prayers himself. So he didn't know what to do. He just came near the forest and sat anywhere, not in a special place. Because before, the two persons used to go to that very special place. To them, it was very sacred. So therefore every time they prayed, their prayers were answered. And for the successor, it was also the same. At least he knew a very special prayer, and he knew of that very special place where his master used to sit in that very special forest.But now, this manMother of the Bride Dresses knew nothing about that. So what did he do? He just knelt or sat there, and said to the Lord, "Oh my Lord! If it's the formula or the prayer that makes You listen, then I am helpless. But please don't be attached to a special formula or prayer, and just listen to me. Our villagers have a lot of problems. Why don't you help them?" And with that, he just stood up and went home to sleep. And God listened all the same, because no one else prayed to Hirm. That was the only man. So Hes said, "Okay. I'll help." So God helped the villagers all the same, just like before.

After setting
What had happened to all that time? Why had it passed so quickly, and why hadn'tformal dresses he spent more of it with her? Why hadn't he held her close and told her more often that he loved her? He cursed himself as a tear came from the corner of his eye, ran down his cheek, then dropped onto the note. He stiffened and wipedevening dresses his face with the back of his hand. There was no need for remorse or regret, he told himself. In a few moments he would join her and at that time would express his undying love and devotion.Sometimes I really doubt whetherprom dresses there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don't act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, "I love you" is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine's Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he's very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to Flower Girl Dresseslose his temper.One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her."Mom, I have a question to ask you," I said after a while."What?" she replied, still doing her work.Is there love between you and Dad?" I asked her in a very low voice.My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn't answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and bridesmaid dressescontinued to sew the quilt.I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn't know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:Susan," she said thoughtfully, "Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If Bicycle helmetlife is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it's really there. Love is inside."I listened carefully but I couldn't understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returnedSki helmet from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.The doctor had said my father would recover in two stainless steel pipemonths. But after two months he still couldn't walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.Dad, how are you feeling now?" I asked him one day.Susan, don't worry about me." he said gently. "To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life." Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understandoptical turnstiles that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm..
She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have Ski helmetsbeen 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the Earth it has no time to flow down the spout.We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Wal-Mart. We waited, some patiently, others Gucci shoesirritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I get lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. Time nike shoxwhen innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith. "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said. Then off they ran.It all started with the breakfast tray my mother gave us as a wedding gift. It had a glassEd hardy top and slatted wooden side pockets for the morning paper e kind you used to see in the movies. Mother loved her movies, and although she rarely had breakfast in bed, she held high hopes for her daughter. My adoring bridegroom took the message to heart.FeelingGrinding machine guilty, I suggested we take turns. Despite grumblings --" hate crumbs in my bed" ---Sunday morning found my spouse eagerly awaiting his tray. Soon these weekend breakfasts became such a part of our lives that I never even thought about them. I only knew we treasured this separate, blissful time read, relax, forget the things we should rememberWe all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they nike dunkwere followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your Custom Wedding Dressesmoney, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories. So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories every day!

Opened my eyes
　 I was looking up at the ceiling. Why I was looking there, I don't know, but I keptwine gift looking anyway, and laughing. I kicked my legs and shuck my arms, but it brought me no closer to what I was looking at. I called out "Ga, ga, gaagh, goo."　I lifted my head. But it fell back down. I was lying on my back, and I was covered from foot to neck in the blanket my Dada had tucked me into. I wanted to move my arms over my covers. But I didn't know how to moveoptical turnstiles them in coordinated motions. I had been practising since I arrived from my mother. But it takes a bit of getting used to.　Again there was no reply. I kept kicking and shaking my arms. I shuck my head. I tried all the movements I had learned so far. But nothing seemed to move my cosy restraints. I looked up at the ceiling again. It was the same as it had been earlier Wire cut machineon. But it was all I had to look at. There was bars on both sides of me 'which I could probably look through'. But believe me, for the effort it would take to turn my head sideways; the ceiling was a much better option. As the room got brighter, I became more and more awake, and more and more restless.Still there was no reply. I kicked and I kicked. I pushed with my arms. I was determined. I was uncomfortable from lying there for sostamping metal long. All I wanted to do was change my position. Oh yeah, and get out of my wet nappy.　I kept trying to free myself, and finally it paid off. One of my arms was free. I could move it right up to my head. I could touch my mouth, my nose, my ears, and the bars of my sleeping place. I could touch the bars. I could touch the bars and I could grip. What if I was to grip the bars and kick and shake at the same time? I tried it and I could.I kept kicking and shaking, and eventually my other arm was free. I had two arms to use now, and now that I had them I was going to use them well. I tried to push my timberland bootscover down. But it was too much of a chore. So I hung onto the bar again with one hand. If my arms were longer I could have reached the other side as well. But they weren't, so I couldn't. I kept kicking and kicking. Then I had an idea. I kicked my legs, at the same time as pushing with my hands. It was working. My restraint was getting looser. I could move more freely. I was warm and I needed air. I stopped kicking for a bit and had another look at the ceiling. It was still the same
Still there was no reply. Just a funny noise from my dada's nose. I startedmirror supplier kicking again. I was making real progress. I was starting to do some new movements. I had the sheets down to the top of my wet nappy. I had got this far. I could get further. As the sheet worked its way down to my feet I was feeling good.At last my feet were free. My arms were free. Now if I could just learn how to stand up. If I could grip the bars with both hands and pull myselfWedding gowns up, I could look at my sleeping mama and dada, instead of looking at the never changing ceiling. I managed to roll over onto my tummy. I moved my legs and my arms in different directions. I was slowly getting into the position I wanted to be in. I was making real progress. I was determined to stand by myself.　I never considered myself unique, but people are constantly telling me, "you are a miracle." To me, I was just an ordinary "guy" with realistic goals and big dreams. I was a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my "big dream" of one day becoming an cheap wedding dressesorthopedic surgeon.On the night of February 17, 1981 I was studying for an Organic Chemistry test at the library with Sharon, my girlfriend of three years. Sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. We got into my car, not realizing that just getting into a car would never quite be the same for me again. I quickly noticed that my gas gauge waspuma shoes registered on empty so I pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy '2.00 worth of gas. "I'll be back in two minutes," I yelled at Sharon as I closed the door. But instead, those two minutes changed my life forever.Entering the convenience store was like entering the twilight zone. On the outside I was a healthy, athletic, pre-med student, but on the inside I was just another statistic of a violent crime. I thought I was entering an empty store, but suddenly I realized it was not empty at all. Three robbers were in the process of committing a robbery and my entrance into the store caught them by surprise. One of the criminals inike air maxmmediately shoved a .38 caliber handgun to my head, ordered me to the cooler, pushed me down on the floor, and pumped a bullet into the back of my head -- execution style. He obviously thought I was dead because he did not shoot me again. The trio of thieves finished robbing the store and left calmly.
　Meanwhile, Sharon wondered why I had not returned. After seeing jordan shoesthe three men leave the store she really began to worry as I was the last person she saw entering the store. She quickly went inside to look for me, but saw no one-only an almost empty cash register containing one check and several pennies. Quickly she ran down each aisle shouting, "Mike, Mike!"Sharon quickly dropped to the floor screaming, "Have you seen my boyfriend? He wedding gownshas auburn hair." The man did not reply but went back to the cooler where he found me choking on my vomit. The attendant quickly cleaned my mouth and then called for the police and an ambulance.When the police arrived they immediately called the homicide division as they did not think I would survive and the paramedic reported that she had never seen a person so severely wounded Bike helmetssurvive. At 1:30 a.m. my parents who lived in Houston, were awakened by a telephone call from Brackenridge Hospital advising them to come to Austin as soon as possible for they feared I would not make it through the night.But I did make it through the night and early in the morning the neurosurgeon decided to operate. However, he quickly informed my family and Sharon that my chances of surviving the surgery were only 40/60. If this were not bad enough, the neurosurgeon further shocked my family by telling them what life would be like for me if I beat the odds and survived. He said I probably would never walk, talk, or be able to understand even simple commands.My family was hoping and praying to hear even the slightest bit of encouragement from that doctor. Instead, his pessimistic Infrared Camerawords gave my family no reason to believe that I would ever again be a productive member of society. But once again I beat the odds and survived the three and a half hours of surgery. Granted, I still could not talk, my entire right side was paralyzed and many people thought I could not understand, but at least I was stable. After one week in a private room the doctors felt I had improved enough to be transferred by jet ambulance to Del Oro Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston.

Three passions
simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the Cheap wedding dressessearch for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching Gucci handbagsto the very verge of despair.I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy -ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness--that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim nike airof the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what- at last- I have found.With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have tried to apprehend the Wholesale wedding dressesPythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flu. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.Love andnike air max knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and thermal imaging cameraI too suffer.This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.
　I never considered myself unique, but people are constantly telling me, "you are a miracle." To me, I was just an ordinary "guy" with realistic goals and big dreams. I was a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my "big dream" of one day becoming an orthopedicDiscount Wedding Dresses surgeon.　On the night of February 17, 1981 I was studying for an Organic Chemistry test at the library with Sharon, my girlfriend of three years. Sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. We got into my car, not realizing that just getting into a car would never quite be the same for me again. I quickly noticed that my gas gauge was registered onBridal dresses empty so I pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy '2.00 worth of gas. "I'll be back in two minutes," I yelled at Sharon as I closed the door. But instead, those two minutes changed my life forever.　Entering the convenience store was like entering the twilight zone. On the outside I was a healthy, athletic, pre-med student, but on the inside I was just another statistic of a violent crime. I thought I was entering an empty store, but suddenly I realized it was not empty at all. Three robbers were in the process of committing a robbery and my entrance into the store caught them by surprise. One of the criminalsBike helmet immediately shoved a .38 caliber handgun to my head, ordered me to the cooler, pushed me down on the floor, and pumped a bullet into the back of my head -- execution style. He obviously thought I was dead because he did not shoot me again. The trio of thieves finished robbing the store and left calmly.
　Meanwhile, Sharon wondered why I had not returned. After seeing the three men leave the store she really began to worry as I was the last person she saw entering the store. She quickly went inside to look for me, but saw no one-only an almost empty cash register containing one check and several wholesale t shirtspennies. Quickly she ran down each aisle shouting, "Mike, Mike!"Sharon quickly dropped to the floor screaming, "Have you seen my boyfriend? He has auburn hair." The man did not reply but went back to the cooler where he found me choking on my vomit. The attendant quickly cleaned my mouth and then called for the police and an ambulance.When the police arrived they immediately called the homicide division as they did not think I would survive and the paramedic reported that she had never seen a person so severely wounded survive. At 1:30 a.m. my parents who lived in Houston, were awakened by awhipping cream telephone call from Brackenridge Hospital advising them to come to Austin as soon as possible for they feared I would not make it through the night.But I did make it through the night and early in the morning the neurosurgeon decided to operate. However, he quickly informed my family and Sharon that my chances of surviving the surgery were only 40/60. If this were not bad enough, the neurosurgeon further shocked my family by telling them what life would be like for me if I beat the odds and survived. He said I probably would never walk, talk, or be able to understand even simple commands.My family was hoping and praying to hear even the slightest bit of encouragement from that doctor. Instead, his pessimistic words gave my family no reason to believe that I would ever again be a productive bag watermember of society. But once again I beat the odds and survived the three and a half hours of surgery. Granted, I still could not talk, my entire right side was paralyzed and many people thought I could not understand, but at least I was stable. After one week in a private room the doctors felt I had improved enough to be transferred by jet ambulance to Del Oro Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston.My hallucinations, coupled with my physical problems, made my prognosis still very bleak. However, as time passed my mind began to clear and approximately six weeks later my right leg began to move ever so slightly. Within seven weeks my right arm slowly began to move and at eight weeks I uttered my first few words. My speech was extremely difficult and slow in the beginning, but at least it was a beginning. I was starting to look forward to each new day to see how far I would progress. But just as I thought my life was finally looking brighter I was tested by the hospital euro-psychologist. She explained to me that judging from my test results she believed that I should not focus on returning to college but that it would be better to set more "realistic goals."