6 . Sadie looked out of the window and sighed (叹气) as she thought about another long, boring day of summer. She wondered what all of her friends from school were doing on their summer vacations. It had to be a lot better than looking out of a window. Sadie thought about the fun she had last summer when she and her best friend Allison went to the beach. They built sandcastles, played beach volleyball, and even tried surfing. But they wouldn’t be going to the beach together this summer because Allison had moved to a different city far away from Sadie’s.

Suddenly, Sadie had an idea. She could call her friend Wendy, who always had funny ideas. Maybe they could ride their bikes together around the park. Sadie raced to the living room, picked up the phone, and called Wendy. She sighed more deeply as the phone rang and rang. Then Sadie seated herself on the sofa, picked up the television remote, and put it down again. She didn’t really want to watch television, so she went to her room and found the list of phone numbers of her good friends from school. In the living room, she called almost each of them, but no one was at home.

After hanging up the phone, Sadie wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching her mom do the cleaning. “Mom, I don’t have anyone to hang out with because my friends from school aren’t home and Allison moved away,” said Sadie. “Honey, there are many things you can do by yourself, like playing your guitar or having a walk in the garden. You could even finish that story about our camping trip,” said Mom.

“I don’t want to do those things by myself. I want to play with a friend.” “Sometimes, it is nice to do things by yourself,” said Mom. “I like seeing my friends, but I also like doing things alone like taking a walk by myself or finding a quiet spot to read. Why not have a try?”

Sadie thought about her mom’s words and returned to her room.

7 . “I have cancer.” Mom said and held me in a tight hug. I could feel her chest _________ as she tried not to cry but failed.

For all of my twenty-four years, my mom had been _________. Strength and protection had always flowed from her to me. Now I knew it would have to flow _________.

Mom didn’t stay _________ for long. After the shock of breast-cancer, she armed herself with a notebook and a pen and a thousand questions for the doctors. “The not-knowing is the _________.” she said.

The operation was successful. The chemo(化疗) was the _________ part. I went with Mom to every chemo treatment. She rarely _________, though her hair was gone and her toenails and fingernails _________ one by one. She joked that she could _________ money on nail polish and put it toward the doctor bills, even though she never wore nail polish. “Cancer can take my hair, my nails, my health, my very life. But it can’t take my smile.” Mom said.

Mom learned to share her fears with me, and it formed an even deeper __________ between us. Yet I am certain there were fears she didn’t share because she was still __________ me—worries she only shared with Dad. Even in the darkest hours, she would just __________ about the cancer. Mom always said. “When you look your greatest fear in the eye and laugh at it, you take away some of its __________.”

Basically, no matter where you are, the waves of life will always __________ you. What matters most is how you __________ during those moments and what they teach about yourselves along this journey called life.

8 . Our church has a way of assisting those who have financial difficulties without making the receiver feel shame or guilt by dropping money into an offering box with only the name of the receiver on the envelope. The envelopes are then distributed to those members without them knowing the ________ of the giver.

There came a time when my husband and I were among those ________. We did not talk about our financial difficulty with anyone. The only reason our ________ knew was because we had to cut back on many things. ________, we hoped they were not aware of the extent of our need. We did not want to ________ them with a problem they were too young to do anything to solve.

Our situation wasn’t improving, and just as we reached the point of ________, our church gave us a gift envelope left in the offering box. We were ________ to receive a big sum of money, enough to help us ________ that desperate time. We couldn’t help but wonder who had given such a generous gift.

A year later, our seventeen-year-old son was applying for a student loan (贷款) so he could ________ university. It was then that we discovered that his savings account was almost ________.

His father and I were very confused by this. From the time he was nine years old, he had worked very hard for his small ________. I asked him repeatedly to tell me where the money had gone. At first, he would not tell me, but I would not let the matter ________.

Finally, in tears, and with much ________, my son admitted that the year before he had put his savings in the offering box for his father and me. I stood there ________, tears filling my eyes. It had taken my son years to save that money. He had given it to us ________ — without telling us what he had done.

It was raining hard outside, which made it difficultly for me to go home for lunch. Just as I was wondering what I should eat at noon, I saw a familiar figure passed by our classroom. I rushed out and found it was my mother, already in she fifties, which brought me lunch in spite of the heavy rain. In China, many parents make great sacrifices for their child. But what had the children done in return? All too often, most children just take it for granted that their parents should serve for them unconditionally. My dear mum or dad, thank you very much bringing me up. How shall I do for you?