2 . As the saying goes, life is sweet. But while we may wish for consistently sweet moments, life often serves us other _________.

Recently, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. In her nineties now, as she _________ the closing stages of a long and remarkable life, she struggles with dementia (痴呆), leading to her mind and body not _________ the way she would want.

The day before the celebration, we _________ to bake cookies with her great grand kids. Not just any cookies, but 60 _________ sugar cookies cut in different shapes, covered with lots of sprinkles (糖屑). Though the kids worked as carefully as they could, they made the kitchen a total mess, _________almost as many sprinkles on the floor as on the cookies. They went on for hours, rolling dough, baking, cutting shapes, and _________ with four kinds of sprinkles.

The next day, the birthday _________ was a success. We took many pictures, and the beautiful cookies were shared. In an _________ way, those sweet sprinkles have not only stuck in my mind but remained almost everywhere in our home for the past few days. In every __________, I continue to find them, in all the colors of the rainbow, four shapes and sizes, sweet, and after I __________ step on them, not so sweet.

Truly, these are bittersweet moments, filled with __________ emotions. From such moments, we unwillingly learn that much in life is __________ our control: the separations and losses, the __________ of life, the passage of time. Life serves up many flavors. __________, we can choose our attitudes on the journey.

3 . She was a four-year-old girl with very fine golden hair when I first met her. She was carrying a bowl of soup. I was 29 at that time and _________ from the flu.

Her mom and I had been friends for years. _________ that friendship grew into care from care into _________ and marriage. Marriage brought the three of us together as a _________. At first I was afraid to be a “stepfather”. Therefore, I tried not to come _________ my future daughter and her _________ father. I acted in that way in order to be liked. However, _________ she was growing up, I found it increasingly hard to _________ with her.

Once her school required the parents to individually write an open and _________ letter to our children. I wrote a letter about a little golden-haired girl who had __________ me a bowl of soup when I needed __________.

A week later, all the parents __________ together with our children. The students were allowed to make a few statements. I was __________ to hear what my daughter would say.

Finally my daughter __________ make her way up to the microphone. She said something like others and then __________ “At this very moment I just want to say. I love you, Father.”

Immediately people around me started __________ at me. For a teenage girl to say __________ in front of so many people “I love you,” took a great deal of courage.

Since then I have __________ to understand I didn’t need to have any __________about being a stepfather. I can still __________ honest love with the same little girl I met so many years before carrying a bowl full of what turned out to be kindness. I can also be friends with the girl — my dear daughter.

5 . Rejection doesn’t always hurt. Sometimes rejection may _________ a more certain path to our final goals.

This year football fans have been watching to see how Joe would _________ in the playoffs(季后赛) this season. Joe dreamed to play in the National Football League (NFL), but his journey wasn’t a(n) _________ one. He applied to several colleges, but none _________ him. Later, he got into Ohio State, but he sat on the _________ for three years. Ohio State had a great football program and coaches, who didn’t think Joe had _________. But Joe thought differently. He _________ Nebraska and got rejected once again, but he didn’t quit. Then he applied to Louisiana State University, which accepted him. The rest is history.

Joe became the Heisman Trophy _________ during his senior year, then he was admitted to the NFL, and later, his team participated in the World Championship.

Joe’s story reminds us that there are _________ paths to our final goals and that it __________ strong endurance and determination to reach them. No single __________ is going to prevent you from __________ your long-term goals. Be sure to__________ the pain that comes from disappointment and face it bravely. Try to focus on goals rather than the __________ outcome of being rejected and remember that the hurt of rejection comes from how we __________ it.

6 . I cleared the dishes from the kitchen table, with Mama following close behind to carry our tableware to the kitchen. There was no stopping her. Despite everything, she still wants to _______ , I thought.

My mama had _______ in moving around and had lost much of her speech to Parkinson’s disease. After a recent fall that left her with a broken arm, the _______ suggested she use a wheelchair. It was _______ to see her like this. From the time I was a kid, Mama had always been an active person with a positive _______ . I could still see her in my mind, cooking and cleaning in the house I grew up in, sometimes humming (哼唱) while _______ .

Now I did my best to _______ her like she’d done for me. I made the long drive as often as possible to _______ her and help around the house. Independent as ever, she never _______ working. “You’ve done ________ , Mama,” I said when she took the towel to clean the table. Where does she get the ________ ？

I turned on the tap to wash our dishes and noticed a ________ coming from Mama’s direction. I turned off the running water. Mama was humming! I ________ as she moved around the table, her happy song filling the room. “What’s it that you’re humming, Mama?” “Count Your Blessings (常怀感恩),” she ________ with a smile on her face.

________ , it was where Mama’s strength came from. There was no stopping her from being thankful, always.

9 . Last September, when I was searching for a blender to make fruit smooth among a pile of dusty appliances in our cupboard, a sense of emptiness occurred to me. My husband and I were always _______ with our own work and the kids with their studies and friendship. We were constantly rush through life to _______ material possessions, with little time to truly connect with each other. Our home was filled with items we _______ used, and our lives seems to be flooded with unnecessary distractions. _______ , we were desperate for a change.

My family and I decided to embrace _______ living. The process began with keeping only the things that brought us _______ or served a practical purpose.

We _______ family traditions, such as regular family dinners, game nights, and weekend outings to nature parks. These activities brought us closer together and _______ a sense of belonging and unity.

We preferred experiences like hiking, picnicking over material goods, and spending quality time together _______ in luxurious purchases. These not only delighted us in the moment but also ________ lasting memories.

We started growing vegetables, ________ our reliance on store-bought produce. We discovered that we could live comfortably with much ________. This also deepened our connection to nature. As we let go of material possessions, our ________ as a family has strengthened, and we have grown to appreciate the ________ of life itself. True wealth lies not in the things we own, but in the love we share and the ________ we create together.