2 . “All my children show concern for people,” says Mary Killough, director of the Illinois Department on Aging. Once when they _______ someone with a serious disability in the shopping mall, they asked me, “Mommy, is that person OK? What happened? ”They even told me they were _______to help him if necessary.

Knowing that children constantly (不断地) learn everything from their parents, Killough always _______ positivity and kindness at home. She tries to make lessons in compassion (同情) heartfelt and _______.She often tells her boys, “we all need _______at some point in our lives, and there are times when you need to lend a hand. The _______ have become part of their life.”

One evening at the gas station, Killough and the boys saw an older woman who was _______ as she tried to find out where she was and drive home. It was starting to get dark, and they tried to give her _______, but she couldn’t understand. The Killoughs led her all the way to her _______. “Although it took an hour or more, no one ________. There’s nothing we’re doing that’ s more ________ than helping each other,” she told them.

DiAnne Crown, now an author on Illinois Times, also ________ compassion at home as a young child. Her parents would take her to ________ events at KumlerFood Pantry where local hungry families can receive food. There was ________ money on the counter for a family in need. “My son and I have ________ the same kindness toward families in need many times since,” DiAnne says.

3 . Most of us have been there: Families can be very difficult, and family problems are very painful.     1     Life is too short to waste time bogged down with negativity towards the people you love. How you approach the family member and what you say can make a big difference.

Identify the real problem.     2     Perhaps you are struggling with health problems or personal problems that you have been hiding from your family. Or maybe you are all grieving over a loved one who has passed away. Consider the real issue at hand, as this will allow you to then better address it.

Wait until you’re not angry to discuss this problem. Family problems can be very painful, especially around family-centered times, like holidays.     3     Waiting allows you to approach the issue logically, rather than emotionally.

    4     Keep your language positive when you talk to your family. Avoid using language that puts blame on any of your family members or that feels negative. Negativity is a vicious cycle.

Accept everyone’s faults, including your own. They say that blood is thicker than water, and that you can choose your friends, but not your family.     5    

5 . My dad loved everything about Northern Soul music. He _________ in England in the 1960s when the music was popular. He had a _________ childhood there. I believe this music _________ him through hard times in his life.

At the age of 57, he was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. When he was _________ from the cancer, he also turned to his music. The music made him _________ and he wanted to dance. One of the songs I knew he _________ was “Because Of You” by Jackie Wilson. He _________ told me why he liked it, but after listening to the _________ of the song, I believed it was for my mother, who _________ him. But my mom insisted they saved each other.

The song ________   me of the time when my dad and I were sitting in his living room after he was diagnosed with cancer and he told me this was his favorite song. I __________ it down in my note section of my phone because I knew it was __________ to remember it. We ended up __________ it at his memorial service. It also reminds me of how my mom and dad __________. My dad was only 23 and was trying to find his way in __________. My mom was 22 and was also trying to find her way. They helped each other over 40 years.

7 . Monique Marshall knew she had to do something for her mother after her stepfather passed away. Monique’s mother, Karin, who is 84 years old, was living in her apartment in New York City ________, about 2,500 miles away from Monique in Los Angeles.

Monique ________ she had to do something for her mother. ________, Monique’s husband, Demille, was all on board, willing to do anything to ________ Karin in her advanced age. That’s when Monique and Demille brainstormed with their friends and neighbors, Pierre and Carmen, who happened to be ________.

After much thought and planning, they ________ a solution of a “glam garage (豪华车库)”. Monique and Demille decided to turn their old and drafty ________ into an apartment space for Karin. But as is always the case with any construction project, they encountered ________. However, it was nothing too big that kept them from completing the ________. And the results are ________!

Karin is in love with her new living space and new city. When Karin first ________ into her glam garage apartment in Los Angeles, she couldn’t ________ her eyes.

“It was overwhelming,” said Karin. “I was so ________. Monique had done all the furniture. I didn’t have to do anything.”

What a wonderful and ________ solution that came about because of love, care and ________.

When I was about four years old, I started washing my face on my own. However, I always ignored the area behind my ears on purpose though my mom would often remind me.

One summer, in July of that year, my mom drove me to my grandparents’ house for our annual summer holiday visit. When we arrived, I was told that Grandma had gone on a trip with her friends and wouldn’t be back for another two weeks. Feeling a bit down, I went to the yard to play while my mom and grandpa caught up on some things. Although I couldn’t hear their conversation clearly, I had a strong feeling they were talking about me based on their gestures and expressions. Later, my mom returned home, and she would come back to pick me up two months later.

After dinner that night, Grandpa asked me to take a bath before going to bed. Since I loved taking baths, I happily agreed. With the bathtub (浴缸) filled with water, Grandpa reminded me, “Just make sure you clean the area behind your ears really well. You wouldn’t want potatoes to start growing there, would you?”

“Potatoes?” I stopped in my tracks and turned back to look at him. “Yes, potatoes. If you don’t clean the dirt behind your ears, potatoes might actually sprout (发芽) and grow there,” he explained, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. “But I don’t have any potatoes behind my ears, Grandpa,” I said as I ran my fingers along the back of my ears. He took a quick glance and replied, “Oh, I see a couple of sprouts: starting right there!” He urged me to get into the bathtub immediately and scrub (擦洗) them away thoroughly.

I nodded, still in disbelief. This was the first time I had ever heard such a thing. Why hadn’t my parents warned me about this before? I wondered, but couldn’t find an answer. Nonetheless, I felt shocked by Grandpa’s warning.

I hurried to jump into the bathtub, carefully scrubbing behind my ears.

“What are you looking at behind your ears?” Grandma asked me curiously.

10 . I stood at the departure gate in Boston, preparing to cross the Atlantic. Although I had made the journey countless times before, it never really got much _________ to leave my home and family. I looked at my mother, our eyes full of _________ and as we wondered when we would see each other again she handed me a _________, saying it might help me feel better. Little did I know that it would not only help me feel better, but would also teach me one of life’s greatest lessons.

Now, back in Switzerland, I opened my mother’s package. It was a book of recipes; I laughed out loud as I _________ through it. All the sections were _________ but the one section on _________ was full. Here were handwritten cards _________ things like “Double Chocolate Fudge,” many of which were created by my mother. Then my heart _________ as I noticed what she had written:

Make some desserts. Remember all the wonderful times we have had together, and have them now with your family.

She was telling me: we must grow up and _________ our own lives, even when it sometimes __________. But there was more to be enjoyed. Recipes in hand, I remembered Christmases of joy and __________ homemade treats. Now, years later, Mom was telling me about what really __________ in life: the only real gifts we can __________ for our children are the beautiful memories of our time together. It is never too late or too early to create beautiful memories and it is now my __________ to give them to my children.

I hope that my girls will marry the boy next door. But wherever they may be, I hope that they will one day open my mother’s recipes. And like me, they will find a recipe for __________.