5 . I had driven home to celebrate my 38th birthday with my mother. When I arrived, I found her sitting proudly at the kitchen table, a chocolate cake and two boxes wrapped in orange ribbon (丝带) in front of her. “Happy birthday!” she said, _________ at the boxes. “Open them.”

As she knows me _______ than anyone, she’d gotten me exactly what I wanted — running clothes. I hugged her and thanked her and proceeded (接着) to eat the cake.

“Too many _______,” I said, not really caring.

“You’ll run them off tomorrow,” Mom said.

Many adult children with a parent suffering from _________ memory will tell you there was one day that _______ to them that their relationship with their mother or father would be forever changed.

For me that day _______ two weeks later, when I drove back for another short _______. I came upon exactly the same _______: my mom sitting at the kitchen table; a chocolate cake resting next to two boxes wrapped in curly ribbon. The ribbon was green this time. That was the only _______. “Happy birthday!” my mom said.

I was totally confused. “What’s going on?” I asked. She smiled, “Can’t I celebrate my daughter’s birthday?”

This was no ________. This was real life, and since my mother clearly only wanted to make me ________, I pushed aside my fear and played my role as the ________ daughter. I hugged her, thanked her and ________ the clothes… I did not mention to her that we’d done all this two weeks ago.

My house is her world now. My mother and I have the ________ conversation roughly 10 times a day. ________, I consider it a pleasure, because every minute is new for her.

My family used to live in London. But then a few years ago my father got transferred (调动) and we came to a small town in Scotland. Everything was new here. The neighborhood, and the school.

I was not liking it much here. At this new school, nobody knew me. As I was shy, I had difficulty making friends and felt lonely all the time.

One day, when I was sitting in my seat, a girl came to me and introduced herself. It was Vivian. She smiled at me and asked if I wanted to have lunch with her. That day, we spent a great time together. Slowly, we became best friends.

In the coming month of October, it was my best friend’s birthday. I and other classmates in the school had planned a day out for her.

We all decided to take her to a nearby picnic spot (地点) in the afternoon and give her a surprise party. Everybody contributed a little to the cake and snacks. After school, we took her to the picnic spot. She cut the cake and we all enjoyed the snacks. After everybody had eaten, we all decided to enjoy the boat ride.

It was a pleasant day. The lake was small but beautiful. We were all singing together and cheering up. In the clear blue water of the lake, we could see the colorful fishes swimming rapidly. There were also ducks adding to the beauty of the scene (风景).

Everybody started clapping looking at those pretty birds. Vivian also became quite excited. Just when she was trying to touch the ducks, she lost her balance. Before anyone could do anything, she fell into the lake.

Everyone was shocked to see this. Without losing a minute, I jumped into the water. Nobody knew but I had learned to swim in my previous school.

At a distance, I could see Vivian struggling in the water.

I told Vivian about my swimming classes in my old school and promised to be there for her in any difficult situation.

Never can you imagine how your next friendship will come into being. During a summer vacation some years ago, I was doing a part-time job at McDonald’s. While handing a hamburger to a woman at the drive-through window, I noticed that she had a box of what seemed to be purple tomatoes alongside. (If you have ever had a drive-through job, you know that it’s hard not to look into someone’s car when you are near his or her face.) That’s when I felt the desire coming on. I felt that I was eager to explore what they exactly were. But I just didn’t know how to start. Would she refuse my curiosity directly or just keep silent, even with a look of disgust?

After a struggle in my heart, I decided to grasp the last minute. As I handed her the burger, I said, “Those tomatoes look special! What kind are they?” She smiled and I thought she was about to start laughing, but instead she replied, “Here, have some!” Within seconds I had a handful of splendid purple tomatoes. “Oh, no, you don’t need to give me any!” I said. Those tomatoes looked expensive. “Here, have more,” she insisted, and now I had six of the fattest and prettiest tomatoes I had ever seen. I weakly tried to protest: “Really, you didn’t have to give me any, hut I appreciate it.”

The woman smiled again and said: “I hope you enjoy them. And to answer your question, it’s an heirloom (传家宝) breed that my mom used to plant. So they aren’t like the ones you get in the grocery store.” I thanked her again, and she sped off. She was like an adult version of the tooth fairy: I gave her hamburger and she gave me tomatoes.

After a couple of weeks, a box of fresh vegetables was sent to my work place.

I decided to accept her invitation to visit her vegetable garden.