这个故事说的是多年前的一名小学老师，汤普森夫人。在开学第一天的时候，她站在五年级全班学生面前，对孩子们撒了一个谎。像大多数老师一样，她看着同学们，说她会一视同仁地爱他们每一个人。
但这是不可能的，因为前排座位上就坐着个消沉的小男孩，他叫特迪？斯托达德。
汤普森夫人去年就开始留意特迪，发觉他不和其他孩子一起玩耍，衣着不整，身上总是很脏，而且，特迪并不讨人喜欢。
汤普森夫人甚至喜欢上用粗红笔在特迪的考卷上打上些大大的叉，并在卷子上方写个“F”。汤普森夫人执教的学校要求老师阅览每个孩子的档案，她把特迪的放在最后才看。
可是，她翻阅特迪的档案时，不禁大吃一惊。特迪一年级老师是这样写的：“特迪是一个聪明的孩子，笑口常开，作业工整，礼貌待人……与他在一起很开心。”
二年级老师的评语是：“特迪是个优秀的学生，同学们都很喜欢他。但是，他母亲得了绝症，他很苦恼，家里生活肯定也很艰难。”
他三年级老师的评语是：“他母亲去世对他打击很大。尽管他很努力，但他父亲对他漠不关心。”
他四年级老师的评语是：“特迪性格孤僻，有厌学情绪。他朋友不多，有时候上课睡觉。”
看到这里，汤普森夫人明白了问题所在，她为自己感到羞愧。当同学们送给她圣诞礼物时，她觉得更难受。那些礼物都用漂亮的包装纸包着，扎着美丽的彩带，惟有特迪的例外。他的礼物是用杂货袋上弄下来的厚厚的棕色纸粗陋地包着的。
在一堆礼物中，汤普森夫人拆开了特迪送的礼物。她看到里面放的是一串少了珠子的水晶石手镯，还有1/4瓶香水，有些孩子开始笑出声来。汤普森夫人制止了孩子们的嘲笑，并大声赞叹手镯是多么漂亮。她戴上手镯，还在手腕处喷了点儿香水。那天放学以后，特迪？斯托达德留下来对汤普森夫人说：“汤普森夫人，您今天身上的味道像我妈妈。”
孩子们走后，她哭了至少一个小时。也从那天起，她不再单纯教阅读、写作和算术，而是开始教孩子们如何做人。
汤普森夫人特别关注特迪。在她的悉心教导下，他的思维似乎变得敏捷起来。她越鼓励他，他的反应就越快。到了年底，特迪已在全班名列前茅。
一年后，汤普森夫人发现门下有张特迪写来的便条，说她仍然是他碰到的最好的老师。
六年后，她又收到了特迪的短信，说他以全班第三名的成绩高中毕业，而她仍然是他遇见的最好的老师。
又过了4年，她又收到特迪的来信，说他很快就要以优异的成绩大学毕业。又一个4年，又来了一封信，这次他说，拿到学士学位后，他继续深造去了。他在这封信中说明，她依然是他一生中最好、最喜欢的老师。不过，这次他的署名长了一点，信的落款是：西奥多？F？斯托达德医学博士。
故事并没有就此结束。你瞧，那年春天，又来了一封信。特迪在信上说，他交了女友，俩人就要结婚了。他解释说，他爸爸几年前就去世了，所以他想知道在他们的婚礼上，汤普森夫人是否愿意做在新郎妈妈的位子上。汤普森夫人当然愿意了。
婚礼上，他们互相拥抱，斯托达德博士对汤普森夫人耳语道：“汤普森夫人，谢谢您对我的信任，非常感谢您对我的重视，是您让我明白我会有所作为。”
汤普森夫人热泪盈眶，低声答道：“特迪，你错了。是你让我明白自己可以有所作为。在遇到你以后，我才知道怎样教育孩子。”
A Foot Ball Player
Bob Richards， the former pole-vault champion， shares a moving story about a skinny young boy who loved football with all his heart. Practice after practice， he eagerly gave everything he had. But being half the size of the other boys， he got absolutely nowhere. At all the games， this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever played. This teenager lived alone with his father， and the two of them had a very special relationship.
Even though the son was always on the bench， his father was always standing with cheering. He never missed a game. This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to. But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice， and perhaps he‘d get to play when he became a senior.
All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game but remained a bench-warmer all four years. His faithful father was always in the stands， always with words of encouragement for him.
When the young man went to college， he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on.” Everyone was sure he could never make the cut， but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul to every practice， and at the same time， provided the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed.
The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college， but he never got to play in a game.
It was the end of his last football season， and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big playoff game， the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent.
Swallowing hard， he mumbled to the coach， “My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today？” The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said， “Take the rest of the week off， son. And don’t even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.”
Saturday arrived， and the game was not going well. In the third quarter， when the team was ten points behind， a silent young man quietly slipped into the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines， the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon. “Coach， please let me play. I‘ve just got to play today.” said the young man. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted the worst player in this close playoff game.
But the young man persisted， and finally feeling sorry for the kid， the coach gave in. “All right，” he said. “You can go in.” Before long， the coach， the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown， who had never played before was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran， he passed， blocked like a star.
His team began to triumph. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game， this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you never heard.
He looked at the coach， with tears in his eyes， and said， “Well， you knew my dad died， but did you know that my dad was blind？” The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile， “Dad came to all my games， but today was the first time he could see me play， and I wanted to show him I could do it！”
