1 . “I'll be back in three hours, ”Dad said as he hurried out for a meeting that late afternoon. “Three hours, ”I told myself. “You can do this. ”I took a _________ breath and turned to Mom. Through her vision problems, at least, she couldn't see the _________ in my face. If she had an Alzheimer's （阿尔茨海默症） attack, I didn't know if I could handle it _________, especially at the end of the day.

I _________ Mom to her chair. “Turn a little more. ”Mom moved her feet slowly while I helped her get into a good position. Once she was _________ with a blanket on her lap, I sat next to her in Dad's chair and hoped she could _________ now. As she fell asleep, I opened a book, and time passed _________ as I became fully absorbed in the words. Then Mom cried, “I'm scared. ” _________ drew lines across her face. “The snow's getting on me. I'm cold, so cold. ”

“Mom, you're safe. You're here at home. ”

“Help me!” She grabbed _________ to my hand.

“I won't __________ you. ” As much as I tried to promise her, I knew she could hear the __________ in my voice. I prayed for Dad to hurry home.

Maybe words weren't the __________. I did the only thing I could think of. I rubbed（揉） her forehead and hummed （哼曲子）, which __________ her. This was what she'd done for me as a child when I had a bad headache.

As the minutes __________, the tension left her face. She began to hum along. It was the __________ sound I'd ever heard.

2 . When I was ten years old, Mum got paralyzed (瘫痪) . Before that, she was a lively and active woman who amazed many with her energy. I admired her for all the things she did.

However, everything changed when she turned thirty-one.

I still have vivid images of her before her paralysis. She would play popular music, creating a cheerful atmosphere for lively gatherings. She would joyfully rearrange the furniture to make room for friends to abandon themselves to dance. She often spent hours filling the house with flowers, which we picked fresh from the gardens.

After Mum’s paralysis, I began to take care of my 2-year-old sister, Mary Therese. In no time at all, I learned to bathe and feed her. For me it was a giant step beyond playing with dolls. One moment stands out even today: the time Mary Therese fell and skinned her knee, burst into tears and ran past my mother’s outstretched arms into mine. Too late, I noticed slight hurt on Mum’s face, but all she said was, “It’s natural that she should run to you, because you take such good care of her.”

When I was grown and entered the field of corrections, Mum became interested in working with prisoners. She taught writing to them. One day, she asked me to mail a letter to one prisoner, Waymon. I asked for my mother’s permission to read it first. It read: when you said that I couldn’t imagine what it is like to be in prison, I felt like I had to tell you that you are mistaken. When I awoke one day to find that I was completely paralyzed, I felt trapped, overwhelmed by a sense of being imprisoned in a body that would no longer allow me to dance or carry my child in my arms. But then, I made a choice about whether I would smile when I saw my daughters again or I would weep. I made a decision to live as fully as I could.

By the time I finished Mum’s letter, my vision was clouded by tears. For the first time, I saw my mother in a clearer light.

3 . I was looking through old photos with Mom. “Where on earth is that photo of Dad and Mumpsy?” I asked. It was my favorite one of Dad holding his dog.

“Maybe Jean has it,” said Mom. “We could ask her.” I looked at Mom as if she had the third eye. She could not be serious! Grandma had two sons, Dad and Uncle Ralph, who was married to Jean. Mom and Jean hadn’t got along since I was a little boy. Jean would say hurtful words to Mom, and Mom tried to let it go. After Grandma passed away, our connection with Uncle Ralph and Jean fell apart.

Yet here was Mom, intending to reach out to Jean after nearly 30 years. “We’re in our eighties,” Mom said. “Neither of us has many years left. Why not give it a try?”

Mom called Jean. Jean said the photos weren’t organized, and she invited Mom over to help look for the photo.

Sitting down at the table, Mom and Jean got through all the boxes from Grandma but didn’t find the photo. After a short talk, Jean said sorry for what she had done years before. She said that over the years, she had come to realize her mistakes but the fear of not being forgiven had stopped her saying sorry. Over the next few hours, they talked about what had happened in their lives.

“Jean received a college degree, and she’s become an artist. She has even sold a few of her paintings.” Mom later told me. “Then Jean pulled out a photo album (相册) of her family, just to share with me.”

“I suppose you didn’t find the Mumpsy photo,” I commented.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Guess what was stuck into the back cover of the album and fell out when she opened it?” Mom held up the photo of Dad and Mumpsy — lost until the recovery of Jean and Mom’s wounds.

For Ren Hongjuan, the meeting with her son was short but precious.

The 52-year-old is a sanitation worker (环卫工人) in Dingzhou city, Hebei province, and had not seen her son Ren Xunming for quite a long time a she boarded at school and had been busy    1    exam preparations. On June 8, the second day of the gaokao, she managed to arrive at her son’s test site after finishing a day of work. Wearing    2    orange uniform, she stood out from the crowd. As the English exam concluded, a wave of students walked out of the hall     3    , (look) for their parents. Ren Xuming didn’t expect his mother to meet him,    4    he ran to his mother when he spotted her Ren Hongjuan handed a bottle of water to her son    5    just finished his English exam in Dingzhou city, Hebei province, on June 8, 2023. Without saying a word, he gave her a big hug and they both cried    6    (quiet). Their meeting was fleeting (短暂) because Ren Xuming had to return to school    7    (continue) his exams the following day.

The heartwarming moment was recorded on video and has gone viral receiving many    8    (comment). One read, “Hardworking mother strongly supports her son. I hope he gets a good result.” Another read, “Now, I    9    (impress) by the mother’s love for her son and his gratitude to his mother.” And another netizen wrote, “She maybe the    10    (beautiful) parent in the gaokao.”

Babloo was picking color papers and some watercolors while his mum was busy selecting the necessary daily supplies for this month. They both completed their selection of items and went to the checkout to pay the bill. Seetha was surprised to see the bill of Rs. 1000 (卢比), which was more than the budget that she had set. She wanted to return some of the items picked up by Babloo.

“But I like drawing. My teacher always shows my art to the class,” Babloo cried. He usually went to a secret place to work on creative artwork. He knew it was difficult for his parents to earn enough money. He was sure his artwork would be appreciated by the shop-keepers around and that he could give his parents a big surprise.

Seetha decided not to disappoint her son. Back at home, Babloo wanted to eagerly open the boxes and look at those items he had selected. But Seetha asked him to do his homework first. She was a litle worried about what her husband, Ramesh, would say about the additional bill amount.

Ramesh reached home around 7:00 P. M. He was very tired and Seetha offered him a cup of coffee. He was a sales executive. He had to work hard to complete the sales target to save his job in the company.

“We need to save at least a little more amount per month, Seetha. It might help us for any emergency expenses,” said Ramesh with a dull face. “What was the bill amount for this month? I hope that was within our budget.”

Seetha was silent for a moment and asked him to have his coffee first. Ramesh, with worry on his face, asked again, wondering if there was any problem.

“No... no issues at all. Only thing is this week’s spending has gone over the budget.” answered Seetha. “Babloo bought color papers and some watercolors and I did not want to disappoint him.”

At this, Ramesh called Babloo and talked to him angrily and seriously.

Four weeks later, Babloo ran towards his father with lots of excitement and 10 notes of Rs. 100.