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When I get old, I will live in my own house and enjoy the peacefulness of life.

When I get old, I will stop leading a busy life and leisurely garden in my backyard.

When I get old, I will keep learning new things and make my old life full of freshness every day.

When I get old, I will never give up studying English because there was a teacher who put her heart and soul into teaching her students.

When I get old, I will dance day and night, as that is my greatest passion in life.

When I get old, I will be a volunteer and spread acts of kindness to make the world better.

When I get old, I will delight in welcoming my children back to our sweet home and have joyful family reunions.

When I get old, I will often meet with my old friends and remember happy times in the past.

When I get old, I will die. Please don’t grieve. My life journey was colored with love and I experienced this world fully. Now I am dust on the earth.

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Born in China, Xiao Feng (Iris) Zheng came to New York in July 2005. For almost three years, she has been studying English with her teacher Carolyn Wright, at the Fifth Avenue Committee. Xiao Feng (Iris) Zheng writes, “I am a child, wife, daughter-in-law, mother, employee, and student. I like each part of myself. I cherish what I have and let go of what I have lost.”