在我们力所能及的范围内伸出援助 之手，受帮助的人一定会记得你的善举！
Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assign- ment（作业）to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful.
Many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies （好吃的东西） of the season. These， the teacher thought， would be the subjects of most of her students’art. And they were.
But Douglas made a different kind of
picture. Douglas was a different kind of boy. As other children played at break， Douglas was likely to stand close by his teacher‘side. One could only guess at the pain Douglas felt behind those sad eyes.
Yes， his picture was different. When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful， he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an empty hand.
His abstract image attracted the imagination of his classmates. Whose hand could it be？ One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer， because farmers raise turkeys. Another suggested a police offi-cer， because the police protect and carefor people. And so the discussion went until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself.
When the children had gone on to other assignments， she paused at Douglas’desk， bent down， and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy murmured，”It‘s yours， teacher.“She recalled the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here and there， as she had the other students. How oftenshe had said”，Take my hand， Douglas， we’
ll go outside.“Or”，Let me show you how to hold your pencil.“Or，” Let‘s do this together.“Douglas was most thankful forhis teacher ’s hand.
Brushing aside a tear， she went on with her work.
The story speaks of more than thank- fulness. It says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing friendship， and how much it means to the Douglases of the world. They might not always say thanks， but they‘ll remember the hand that reaches out.
