about me的英语作文高中（通用20篇）

Currently, some cities are considering a food ban on subways, which has sparked heated discussion. Some people say food should be banned because of the trash and rats they attract. And, garbage from discarded food can cause track fires. Beyond sanitary and mechanical concerns, food can also cause fights, as was discovered last week by one passenger who criticized a woman eating steamed stuffed bun on the subway.

However, some others are opposed to the idea. They argue that people like eating in the train in the morning because they dont have enough time to eat at their houses or restaurants. Sometimes that may be the only time or meal a transit rider may be able to eat especially when traveling long distances. Besides, there are people, for example diabetics, who do require food at various times to maintain blood-sugar levels.

Personally, Im against the ban because of the huge inconvenience it would cause to commuters, and the expense involved in enforcing it. Still, I believe we should have a little common courtesy. I think we all have responsibility to try to treat our subway system and fellow riders with respect, and that extends to food as well.

Nowadays, many families have a dog or a cat as a pet. Some people think

that pets are good and helpful companies. Some of them even go so far as saying

that animals are as good as humans, and their rights should be respected .Senior

citizens are especially fond of keeping pet because they are always feeling

lonely at home and they see the cats or dogs as their partner.

But some other people do not like pets. They say that animals are noisy,

dirty and dangerous. They think laws should be made to forbid people from

keeping pets in cities and towns.

In my opinion, pets are loyal friends that will never betray us. Staying

with pets, we shall enjoy happiness and feel relaxed. Most important of all,

keeping pets helps people to reduce loneliness and forget their unpleasant

things for the time being.

一般来说，高中生活是忙碌而又充实的，因为我们最终的目标都是高考。你的高中生活是怎么样的呢?给大家介绍一下吧。

我的高中生活优秀英语作文一：

Now, the new semester has begun for more than one week. I gradually adapt to my new life in senior school. In senior school, my biggest feeling is busy, for I have classes all the day and teachers leave us a lot of homework. In the morning, I have two periods for morning reading, Chinese and English, beginning from 7:00. After that, I have four periods in the morning and four other in the afternoon. There are many more subjects than in middle school, Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, history and so on. Sometimes, I am afraid of seeing so many textbooks in my desk. In addition, the contents are much more difficult than before. Math and physics are the most difficult ones for me. No matter how hard I work, I still can’t do well in them, which makes me frustrated. Therefore, in the new beginning, I must change my learning strategies to make my work more effective. All in all, my new life in new school is good and rich, though it’s busy.

我的高中生活优秀英语作文二：

Generally speaking, life in high school is busy and fulfilling, due to the ultimate goal---College Entrance Examination. Many people say that there is no fun left but bored study and endless exercises. However, as a high school student, I can’t agree with them. Personally, I live a fruitful but happy life in high school. It can’t be denied that study is my priority that I must spend most of my time and energy on it. Sometimes, study may make me frustrated or even drive me crazy, but I still can adjust my mood to enjoy my life. Besides, I can also get a sense of achievement when I do well in my study or make progress. The most important is that my friends bring much happiness to me and my parents’ care inspires me to go on. I think friends in high school are my best friend forever, because they know me a lot and witness all of my emotions. They are the persons who grow with me. In addition, teachers in high school care much about our students both in study and life, and classmates are always friendly to each other. We build deep friendship together. All of these make up my fruitful life in high school, which I will cherish forever.

一般来说，高中生活是忙碌而又充实的，因为我们最终的目标都是高考。很多人说，除了无聊的学习和无止的练习根本就没有乐趣可言。然而，作为一名高中生，我不同意他们的说法。在我看来，我的高中生活充实而又快乐。不能否认，学习是我的首要任务，去必须把握大部分的时间和经历花在上面。有时候，学习是我感到沮丧，甚至快要发疯;但是我仍然能够调节我的心情去享受生活。除此之外，当我在学习上做得很好或者是取得进步的时候，我感到一种成就感。最重要的是，我的朋友给我带来了很多快乐，父母的关心也激励着我继续前进。我认为高中时期的朋友永远是我最好的朋友，因为他们了解我，见证了我所有的情感，他们是和我一起成长的人。另外，高中的老师在学习和生活上更关心学生，同学彼此之间也很友好。我们一起建立了深厚的友谊。所有的这些构成了我充实的高中生活，我将永远珍惜它。

我的高中生活优秀英语作文三：

According to my memory, my high school life was full of happiness and fortune because of my lovely friend and teacher. They are sunshine in my high school life.

根据记忆，我的高中生活充满了幸福和运气，因为有可爱的朋友和老师。他们是我高中生活的阳光。

I met my best friend in senior one. She is a girl with long legs, white skin, and small face. What makes me a deep impression is her wide shoulder, wider than other girls who have the same height as her. She was kind, treating me just like I was her sister. I didn’t live in school dormitory, but she did. So, I slept with her at noon. Sometimes we argued, but we both checked our mistakes and recovered our relationship soon. When we were senior two, I moved in school dormitory, I didn’t feel comfortable in there very fast. She took care of me and made me feel warm. In my opinion, she is more than a friend, like a family.

在高一的时候我遇到了我最好的朋友。她是一个女孩，有着一条长长的腿，白皙的皮肤和小小的脸蛋。她比同身高的女生都要宽的宽宽的肩膀让我印象深刻。她很善良，对我就像是她妹妹一样。我不在学校宿舍住，但是她在。所以，中午我和她一起睡。有时候我们会争吵，但我们都自我反省，之后我们的关系很快就会恢复了。当我们高二的时候，我搬到学校宿舍住，很快我就觉得不舒服。她照顾我，让我感到很温暖。在我看来，她不止是朋友，也是家人。

As for my teachers, my chemistry teacher is my favorite teacher. She is a woman with sweet smile, not so tall, but she built a tall imagination in my heart. I used to chat with her result from my failure in the exam. She is a divorced woman; however, she was steel, living a happy life with her daughter. I appreciate people with a strong heart, maybe the reason is that I want to be the kind of person who is always optimistic and can’t be defeated easily. She expresses that.

至于我的老师，我最喜欢的老师是我的化学老师。她是一个女老师，总是挂着甜美的微笑，她不是很高，但她在我的心里却是伟大的形象。我曾经因为考试不及格而和她聊天。她是一个离了婚的女人;然而，她却像钢铁一样坚强，和她的女儿过着幸福的生活。我很欣赏拥有一颗坚强的心的人，也许是因为我想成为一个永远乐观，不轻易被打败的人。她说道。

The high school memory is a valuable memory in my life. It’s my fortune to meet them, my sunshine.

在我的人生中高中记忆是我一段宝贵的记忆。遇见他们，我的阳光是我的运气。

Since I go to middle school, I have to learn many subjects. Though I am not

the best student in class, but I won’t give up. I always tell myself to work

hard, because if I want to compete with other students, I need to make great

effort. People are easy to deny themselves when they face difficulty. If they

fail one time, then they will doubt the effort they have made. Actually, we are

not studying in vain. What we learn will be a great help to improve ourselves.

The thing we learn decides what kinds of person we are. So don’t deny yourself,

as you will see the value you have stored before in the future.

Every year on October 4th is the World Animal Day. It is proposed by the

Italian monk St Francis in 12th century. He lives in the forests of Assisi

Island for the long time, building a good relationship with the animals. So he

asks people to express thanks to the animals on October 4th. He sets a good

example for our human beings about how to deal with the relationship with

animals. In order to memorize him and what he does, we make October, 4th to be

World Animal Day. Nowadays, people from all over the world will hold various

activities to celebrate on that day. The aim of this festival is to remind

people to care for all animals and build a harmonious relationship with

them.

Friends can be classmate, can be meet by the chance, also can be to forget... Since the childhood, we all have friends, but there is always a best friend.

My best friend is a little rabbit. Rabbit this name is very suitable for her, she is thin, wearing a pair of glasses, on her always find innocent and lovely.

In sports class, she can be fast! She ran like the wind, to pull a lot, you always dont know what she was thinking.

In class, she always listening, always not distracted; Next class, she will be very happy to play with us; Generous, but singing, there is always a little shy; After school, her laughter echoed in the quiet of the path.

One day after school, I and he is in a secluded road, see a cute kitten is "meow meow" cried, and its fur is white, the ear is pink short beard, its like an emerald eyes glowing aura. Little rabbit slowly moves the line of sight, "ah!" Little rabbit exclaimed, "its a calf injury, we take it home to bind up once!" Little rabbit say that finish, with poor looked at it, and looked at me with pleading eyes, for fear that I dont promise to her. "Ok." I agreed. She was glad to picked it up and gently stroked it a few times, said: "lets go." We quickly returned home.

Back home, we see it wound cleaning, and for gauze bandaging the wound, to feed it a little bit of biscuit, drank some water, we really like about it for a patient.

Later, the kittens injury is good, already can walk, it was glad to shake the tail, naughty blunt we call incessantly, seem to express our rescue of it. We also often go to see it, take care of it, the three of us became good friends.

I would also like to thank the kittens, if not it, friendship between rabbit and I wouldnt like gem denim!

译文

朋友可以是同学，可以是萍水相逢的人，也可以是忘年交……从小到大，我们都有朋友，但总有一个最好的朋友。

我最好的朋友是小兔。 小兔这个名称很适合她，她比较瘦，戴着一副眼镜，在她的身上总能找到天真可爱的气息。

上体育课时，她跑得可快啦!她跑起来像一阵风，鬼点子很多，你总不知道她在想什么。

上课时，她会认真听讲，总不分神;下课时，她也会很高兴地和我们玩耍;很大方，但唱歌时，总是有一点羞涩;放学时，她的欢声笑语回荡在僻静的小路上。

有一天放学后，我和他走在僻静的小路上，看见了一只可爱的小猫正“喵喵喵喵”地叫着，它的毛是雪白的，耳朵是粉红色的短短的胡须，它那绿宝石一样的眼睛里泛着灵气。小兔慢慢地移动了视线，“呀!”小兔惊叫一声，“它的小腿受伤了，我们把它带回家去包扎一下吧!”小兔说完，用可怜的目光看着它，又用恳求的目光看着我，生怕我不答应她似地。“好吧。”我答应了。她高兴地把它抱起来，轻轻地抚摸了它几下，说：“我们走吧。”我们飞快地回到了家里。

回到家后，我们把它的伤口清洗了一下，又找来纱布把伤口包扎了一下，给它喂了一点饼干，喝了一点水，我们对它可真像对一个病人呀。

后来，小猫的伤好了，已经可以走路了，它高兴地摇摇尾巴，淘气的冲我们叫个不停，似乎在表达我们对它的救助之恩。我们也经常一起去看望它，照顾它，我们三个成了好朋友。

我还要感谢这只小猫呢，如果不是它，我和小兔之间的友谊也不会像宝石一样坚固呢!

My Family

My name is Li Hua. I am from a workers family. There are six people in my

family. They are my grandfather, my grandmother, my father, my mother, my sister

and I.

Every member in my family works for his or her own trade①. My grandfather

and grandmother are peasants. They do farm work every day in my hometown. My

father is a senior engineer. He is now working in Africa, helping to build a

power station. My mother is a teacher. She teaches English in a middle school.

My sister, five years older than I, is a doctor in the Peoples Hospital of our

county. She loves her work and does it well. I am a middle school student. And I

am going to take this years college entrance examination. I wish that I could

be enrolled② by a famous university.

That is my family. All the members in my family live in harmony③. We love

each other devotedly.

导入：

第1段：Recently we’ve had a discussion about whether we should... (导入话题)

Our opinions are divided on this topic.(观点有分歧)

正文：

第2段：Most of the students are in favour of it.(正方观点)

Here are the reasons. First... Second... Finally...(列出2~3个赞成的理由)

第3段：However, the others are strongly against it. (反方观点)

Their reasons are as follows. In the first place... What’s more... In addition...(列出2~3个反对的理由)

结论：

第4段：Personally speaking, the advantages overweigh the disadvantages, for it will do us more harm than good, so I support it.(个人观点) オ

Everyone in our life should face something we hate, or some one we never want to face.

So,how can we face the difficulties.

Difficulties happen all the time, but do not be afraid of difficultys. Just go ahead withe what we are doing with a smile.Do cry and have a smile, which is the best way we can use to beat difficulties.Never

give up and do your best for tomorrows sunthine. Trust yourself, believe in that tomorrow will be better.

You see, no matter what difficulties we face, we always smile,dont we? So, earthquake we are not afraid because of our smile;H1N1, we are not afraid because of our smile....

Together forever no matter what happens,and, with a smile, trust that everything can be soved!

The street, people mountain people sea, beaming, against the colorful lights, neon lights, flash; Auto lamp, bright white, various, fantastic! Xinda street, heavy traffic, on both sides, the stall owners are selling beautiful balloon, different colors: red, yellow, blue, green, purple... . Form that vary: some blow grow winding, like a snake, somelike people smile face, there are various kinds of shape. Peoples vehicle is also different from ordinary, the car has a different decoration, like balloons, streamers and flowers and so on. Building, decorating, decorated, from the inside, outsidebusiness busy. Dance, the sky only colorful balloons, added the cheerful atmosphereto the Spring Festival. Most make a person happy that beautiful fireworks, firecrackers. Square, enthusiastic people putting the colorful fireworks, the best and the biggest shot a gun to shoot in the air, spread out a flower. And the flower on the ground, although it is small, power is also quite big, a light, spin, immediately issued a light, opened a little flower. Led adjustment by the smiling, like really, air spinning, then dance, finally finished BiBao shell exploded. A deafening noise, thefireworks blossom, beautiful!

Are happy New Year, Spring Festival is a festival, peoples life will be getting better and better.

In our daily lives, we have many choices to make, such as what to eat for supper,what clothes to wear, or what to do on weekends. At certain times in our lives, we need to make even more critical choices, such as which school to attend, what job to take or who to choose as husband or wife. Yes, life is a matter of choice. Seemimgly, it means a choice of tangible things. But in essence, it means choosing a way of life. Life is to be lived, savored, and enjoyed, not to be wasted or complained about.

Although we cannot choose our appearance, inborn gifts and even avoid unexpected disasters and adversities, we do have the privilege to choose to live optimistcally,to love our lives, to have dreams, and to cherish hopes.

Every morning when we get up, we have a choice of how we want to approach life that day. As for me, I choose to be cheerful.

日常生活中,我们会面临各种各样的选择,像是晚餐吃什么,穿什么或是如何度周末.而在人生中的特定阶段,我们需要做出更多关键性的抉择,例如教育,职业或者人生伴侣.生活就意味着一种选择.这种选择看似是对具体事物的判断,但归根究底,是一种生活方式的选择.任何无味的抱怨和虚度光阴只会带来乏味,生活的美需要细心品尝,用心体会.

尽管容貌和天资都是上苍给予,而人生旅途中的坎坷与荆棘我们也无法预计,那就让我们热爱生命,拥有梦想,珍惜希望吧.

每日清晨梦醒,我们都被赋予了选择生活的权利.而我会让一切从愉快开始.

Life is like a piano,what you get out of it,depends on how you play it.

No sweat, no sweet.

没有辛勤的劳动，哪有甜美的收获?

There is no end to knowledge.There is no end to perfect character.

读不尽者书，造诣不尽者人品。

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

做大事，靠的是毅力而不是力量。

Cease to struggle and you cease to live.

停止奋斗，就等于放弃生活。

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance

伟大的工作是源于坚持不懈，而不是一时的热情。

Congratulations on your graduation! Whishing you a future filled with success and joy of seeing your dreams come true.

祝贺您的毕业!希望您有一个成功的未来，感受到梦想成真的快乐。

Boys, be ambitious.

男孩，是雄心勃勃的

Man can survive, only when he has the substance, man can live only when he has ideal.

人依靠物质就能生存，但只有拥有理想时，才叫生活。

Goals determine what you are going to be.

目标取决于您的愿望。

Great hope makes great men.

伟大的愿望成就伟大的人。

An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding. Pursue your object, be it what it will, steadily and indefatigably.

Man who has a settled purpose will surely succeed.

目标专一的人肯定会成功。

Follow your own course, and let people talk.

走自己的路，让别人去说。

Life is a leaf of paper white, thereon each of us may write his word.

There is a limit to ones youth, but no limit to his wisdom. Draw on the limitless wisdom during the short span of youth.

Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, these three alone lead life to sovereign power.

自我尊敬，自知之明，自我控制，这是生活的最高境界。

Character decided the fate ,and knowledge changes ours fate.

星期和日期写在左上角，天气写在右上角。

日期格式用月日年（美式）或日月年（英式）都可以。

1. 年、月、日都写时，通常以月、日、年为顺序，月份可以缩写，日和年用逗号隔开。例如：december 18, xx或者dec. 18, xx。

2. 如果要写星期，星期要紧挨日期，它既可以放在日期前面，也可以放在日期后面，星期也可以省略不写。星期和日期之间不用标点，但要空一格，星期也可缩写。例如：thursday dec. 18, xx或dec.18，xx thursday

3. 天气情况必不可少。天气一般用一个形容词如:sunny, fine, rainy, snowy等表示。天气通常位于日记的右上角。

下面列出了一篇日记的开头，有兴趣的同学可以回忆一下，再接着往下写。

mon.sept. 1, xx sunny

today is the first day of my senior high school life ...

Today is the first day of the New Year, the morning of fresh air and

sunshine, mother took me to feel the New Years day outside the atmosphere.

Street vehicle comings and goings, flowing very lively, mother took me to

the supermarket to buy things, supermarket bustling, originally people rush to

buy New Year gift! My mother said he wanted to buy a toy, I say: "I is the big

kid dont car these toys, it would save some money to buy school things," then I

will take some learning supplies and a cake billet to do our own cake to

celebrate New Years day. On the way back to my grandmas I saw many shops,

supermarkets in glass written on New Years day wishes everybody happy, return

to my grandmas I took the cake billet and brother in above the text is

made.

Less than half an hour a nifty bright homemade cake will appear in the

present, this is really a happy New Year!

Today is my birthday and Im so excited about it.In the morning I put a

note on the table for my mum and it said,"Today is my birthday,dont forget

it!"At school,I got many gifts and cards for my classmates and had a lot of

fun.But I was still expecting the birthday party after school.

When it was time to leave school I couldnt wait to go home.When I open the

door,there wasnt anybody in the house.There was only a note that said,"Coming

home late tonight,mum and dad."I try to call them but there was no answer.I was

so shocked,do they forget my birthday?How could this be!I was so sad that I

couldnt eat anything.I just did my homework and waited for them.

And then,things changed completely.It was about time for dinner,my mother

called and told me to go to the restanrant near our house.When I got there I

couldnt believed my eyes.Everybody was there:my parents,my relatives,my friends

and even my classmates.There was so many gifts and a big cake.What a surprising

birthday party!We had a good time and it was the best birthday party ever.

High school life is so wonderful for me, and I have made many good friends.

We fight for our future together. As there are so many subjects for me to learn,

I spend most of the time studying knowledge. But deep in my heart, I like sports

so much, especially tennis. When I knew our school had tennis club. I felt so

excited and wanted to be part of it. But the problem was that what if I lagged

behind other students in study as I spent the time on this hobby. At last, I

still decided to join tennis club, because I wanted to do something special and

enriched my high school life. I tried hard to make plans for my study. At the

same time, I spared some time to play tennis. I found the balance and enjoyed

the thing l liked.

We are always educated to be an honest person, especially to our parents. While the fact is that every kid will lie to their parents in their lives. For me, my parents are very strict, I am not allowed to go out at night, because the news always reports the bad incidents happen at night. But night activity attracts me a lot, and my friends like to hang out for fun at night, so I choose to lie to my parents and tell them I am doing my homework with my friends. Now as I grow up, I realize it is not right to tell lies, so I decide to be honest to my parents. Once they realize that I am not a little kid anymore, then I will have my right to do what I want.

The Origin of Halloween

While there are many versions of the origins and old customs of Halloween, some remain consistent by all accounts. Different cultures view Holloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the same.

Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead.

Samhain signifies "summers end" or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition.

The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating.

万圣节的起源

尽管关于万圣节的起源和旧俗有很多不同的看法，但有一些是被所有人接受的。不同文化看待万圣节总是有点不同，但是传统的万圣节做的事情都是一样的。

万圣节文化可以追溯到德鲁伊教，这是一种爱尔兰、北欧和英国的凯尔特文化，根植于Samhain节的庆祝活动，Samhain节于每年的10月31日纪念逝者。

Samhain节说明夏天结束或者十一月，是一个丰收的节日。在Samhain节会燃起神圣巨大的篝火，标志着凯尔特一年的结束和新一年的开始。一些做法因为迷信被加入庆祝活动中。

凯尔特人相信死者的灵魂会在夜里出没在街道和村庄。因为他们认为不是所有的灵魂都是友善的，所以就把礼物和好吃的留在外面安慰恶灵来确保来年的庄稼可以丰收。这种习俗演变成了trick-or-treating。

[高中万圣节英语作文

Today was Sunday, I was so happy because our family had a big meeting, we went to the park to have the barbecue. We called our relatives to join us, it was such a great party. As the family members haven’t got together for a long time, so my father decided to get everybody united. In the park, I played with my cousins, we were taking a visit of the park while the parents were doing the barbecue.

When my counsins and I played so tiredly, we went to join the grow-ups’ activities.

The fathers were talking about the business stuff, while the mothers were talking about the children and their daily life. Our family was so harmonious, we shared the things together and helped each other. I like this activity so much, I wish my families can have more time to be together.

今天是星期天，我很开心，因为我们的家庭有一个大聚会，我们去公园烧烤。我们叫上了亲戚来加入，这是多么盛大的派对啊。由于家庭成员间很久没有在一起了，因此父亲决定把大家团聚在一起。在公园里，我和表亲们在玩，我们在参观公园，而家长们则在烧烤。在表亲们和我玩累了，我们就加入大人们的活动。父亲们在谈论生意上的事情，然而母亲们在谈论孩子和日常生活。我们的家庭是那么的和谐，一起分享东西和彼此帮助。我很喜欢这样的活动，我希望我的家人们能有的时间相聚。

[高中英语作文：家庭烧烤

Some people like to work alone while others enjoy teamwork. In my opinion,

everyone had better learn to work with others together because teamwork is

definitely necessary and important in modern society.

First, working in a team provides a chance for us to communicate with each

other. Just as the saying goes, “many hands make light job.” Working in a team,

teammates share their ideas with each other, which is helpful to create a better

achievement. Second, working in a team is a way to broaden our horizon.

Teammates in a team can learn something from each other because they are from

different places, owning various experiences and hold different views towards

things. Therefore, getting along with other teammates is also a process of

increasing our knowledge. Finally, working in a team is also a way to establish

our friendship. Teammates in a team have chances to help each other, to solve

the problems together, to share the happiness of being successful, which make a

great contribution to establishing friendship. Thus, working in a team is one of

the most effective ways to extend our personal relationships.

To sum up, to learn to work in a team is really necessary and important and

we should try to enjoy it.

导语：每个人都有自己的妈妈，你喜欢你的妈妈吗?下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的优秀英语作文，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

My mother has no idea that her ninetieth birthday is coming up. She has no notion of the time of day, the day of the week. the season of the year, the year of the century. No notion of the approaching millennium. And no idea any longer, who I am. Her forgetting of me happened just a few months ago, after I had been traveling for more than a month and hadnt been to see her. When I came back, she asked me if I were her niece, l said no, I was her daughter. "Does that mean I had you?" she asked. 1 said yes. "Where was I when l had you?" she asked me. I told her she was in a hospital in Far Rockaway. New York. "So much has happened to me in my life." she said "You cant expect me to remember everything."

My mother was once a beautiful woman, but all her teeth are gone now. Toothless. No woman can be considered beautiful. Whenever I visit her in the nursing home, she is sitting at the table in the common dining room, her head in her hands, rocking. Medication has eased her anxiety, but nothing moves her from her stupor except occasional moments of fear, too deep for medication. This is a room that has no windows, that lets in no light, in which an overlarge TV is constantly blaring, sending images that no one looks at where the floors are beige tiles, the walls cream colored at the bottom, papered halfway up with a pattern of nearly invisible grayish leaves. Many of the residents sit staring, slack-jawed, open mouthed. I find it impossible to imagine what they might be looking at.

When I walk into the dining room on the day of my mothers birthday, I see that she has already been served lunch. The staff has forgotten to hold it back. Though I told them a week ago that I would be providing lunch. She hasn’t touched anything on her tray except a piece of carrot cake, which she holds in her hands. The icing is smeared on her hands and face. I dont want my friends to see her smeared with icing, so I wet a paper towel and wipe her. This fills me with a terrible tenderness, recalling, as it does. a gesture I have performed for my children. As I wipe my mothers face, I see that her skin is still beautiful I hold her chin in my hand and kiss her forehead. I tell her its her birthday, that shes ninety years old. "How did that happen?" she asks. "I cant understand how that could happen."

l have brought her a bouquet of crimson, yellow, and salmon-pink snapdragons. She likes the flowers very much. She likes the name. "Snapdragons. It seems like an animal thats going to bite inc. But its not an animal, its a plant. Thats a funny thing,"

I have bought food that I hope will please my mother, and that will be easy for her to eat: orzo salad with little pieces of crayfish cut into it, potato salad, small chunks of marinated tomatoes. I have bought paper plates with a rust-colored background, upon which are painted yellow and gold flowers and blue leaves.

My friends Nola and Gary come for my mothers birthday. When we are about to leave, I tell my mother that Im going on vacation, mat I wont see her for three weeks, that 1 am going to the sea. "How will I stand that, how will I stand thats she says, but I know that a minute after I’m gone shell forget I was there.