3 . By the time I was a junior at Yale, I’d already met everyone I cared to know. I also knew those I didn’t want to know, including Maxey. He and I were like planets in different ________ .

Everything changed dramatically when we had a field trip for a weekend. Although I was________, I could get along well with others except Maxey who still made me________. I couldn’t think of anything to say to him. When he walked up to me and stuck out his hand, I just ________ it quickly. We stood awkwardly for a few minutes. When someone tried to get my attention, Maxey politely ________. That last morning, when we discussed how to return home, he insisted I ride home on the back of his motorcycle. I said I thought it was a terrible ________ and I wanted to refuse, but Maxey ________ a helmet at me. ” I wanted to give you a________. You didn’t seem to like me. I want you to like me.” he said. Maxey started up the________ and we roared out of the driveway. The bike ________down the highway. I________ my arms around him and held on for dear________. Maybe our friendship started from that day.

We were now both 60, but my ________ with him remained strong. I was sure if I was in ________, Maxey would be there for me. I was ________sure that if he wanted my help, I would give it without hesitation.

6 . My father was the kind of guy who could walk into a room full of strangers and leave with new best friends for life! He was a hard worker and was known as “Mr Fix-It” to everyone. He was also one of the most cheerful, affable (和葛可亲的) and gentle people you would ever meet, which made us, his beloved daughters feel proud.

But when Dad was in his fifties, my family began to notice him struggling. His work and skills began to become worse and worse, and he became depressed and withdrawn. This was not the man I knew. At the age of fifty-eight, Dad was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As for our family, it was the worst.

Our first step was to attend a meeting hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association to learn more about the disease and programs that might help us. That meeting inspired me to start a Walk to End Alzheimer’s^® team. But I still wanted to do more. In 2017, I became a board member of the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter.

The loss from this disease is gradual. My father’s decline continued for several years. Losing my father more and more each day was leaving a big hole in my heart and my life. I decided to fill that hole with action to honor my father.

That’s why I recently decided to leave a gift to the Alzheimer’s Association by naming it as a beneficiary of my retirement plan. My future gift will provide money to support research because I don’t want another person in my family or someone in other families to have to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

I am so proud to be able to honor my father and other family members who lost their fights to Alzheimer’s in this way. My dad was an inspiration to me, and I hope, through my gift, I can inspire others to join in the fight to end Alzheimer’s.

10 . Do your family have any good traditions to keep? My family keep a “Good Things Jar (罐)” on our ________ table. I have small cut pieces of paper and a pen ________ so that anyone who comes through my kitchen, including friends and family, is free to ________ something good that has ________ to them recently.

Each year at Christmas time, we ________ the jar and take turns reading aloud all the “Good Things” that happened that year. Some are funny but some are ________ and some just give hope. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was especially important for us to hope by ________ the “Good Things” that showed up in our lives.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, it was one of the most terrifying things I could have ________ . I had always been ________ myself a “germaphobe (有洁癖的人)”, so a pandemic was like a nightmare (噩梦) ________ for someone like me. Firstly, I worried about every surface we ________ , schools being shut down for my children, and ________ myself and those I loved becoming ill or dying.

________ , through this difficult time, good things were still happening. And at the end of the year, we were ________ to see our “Good Things Jar” was as full as the ________ years.

“Zarah, Will, and I had a picnic outside and I taught Will how to clap with his feet.”

“Even though Grandma is on chemo, she kicked the sickness!”

“My family ________ me the best surprise birthday party ever!”

…

My “Good Things Jar” is like a jar of bottled ________ . The little messages ________ us that we can always ________ good things to come our way, even during the most difficult times. And at this time especially, when we all need hope, I ________ you to create your “Good Things Jar” today.