1 . I was in my home office on a cold Sunday when I heard a quick knock on the door. I _____ downstairs, threw open the door and saw my dad _____ something wrapped up in paper in his arms. Strangely, he had given no hint (暗示) of it when we spoke on the phone last night.

“Open it.” he said.

I opened it to find a yellow begonia (秋海棠). It occurred to me that it was Mother’s Day.

“But···but I’m not a mother.” I said, _____.

My dad smiled, “Well, some special people aren’t mothers. but I think they _____ to get flowers, too.” With that, he hugged me and drove off.

Later, I called to thank him and we got to talking a lot. That’s when he let me in on his little _____. He had decided that he would challenge himself to do one act of _____ per day. It had started several weeks before when he accidentally knew a friend of his was having a rough day. He knew she loved ice cream, so he drove straight to her house with a huge tub of ice cream.

“She laughed _____ when she saw it,” he said, “It really delighted me to know that I had _____ her day.”

When asked why, he added, “I already know about the importance of being _____ in the moment. So, I try to be there with each person I am spending time with. I want them to feel important and believe in the goodness in people in that moment.”

I realized my dad was making a difference in people’s lives. ______, I also want to be more like my dad, who goes out of his way to make people feel loved and cared for.

2 . Yes Day

My friends and I were having breakfast at a Mexican holiday resort (旅游胜地) while enjoying the cool sea breeze. It promised to be another ______ day, as we embraced the break from our busy routine.

We were looking over the list of the resort’s activities. After we ______to convince (说服) each other of what would be best to do, I said, “Let’s have a YES DAY and say yes to EVERY activity, even if it’s not in our comfort zone. Let’s ______ and enjoy ourselves in unexpected ways.”

I hate ______ , but the zipline over the resort was at the top of our list. I was scared when I climbed into position. I wanted to back out, but my friends cheered me on. So, I jumped off the platform and screamed the whole way down. But I was glad I ______ it. Besides the ______, I also appreciated the amazing views. Thankfully, I didn’t say no, otherwise I would have missed this wonderful experience.

My friend Katie, who didn’t want to do karaoke, also had to face her _____ of being the center of attention. We danced and sang, laughing all night long. We were _____ brave enough to attend a wedding party and danced on a glass topper over a swimming pool.

We still talk about our magical Yes Day! When we see the photos from that magical time, we are so happy. In fact, we may miss so much if we only ______ what we are comfortable doing. I believe we all______ Yes Days.