It was a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon some fifteen or sixteen years ago. I had volunteered to take my two older kids to the local playground while my wife put the youngest down for a nap. As soon as we got there my daughter headed for the swings and asked for a push. As I was helping my daughter to go higher and higher, I noticed another girl who was about 8 years old, trying in vain to get her own swing going. Her elderly grandmother was sitting quietly on a nearby bench and smiled at me.

I gave my daughter one big push and then walked over to the little girl and asked if she could use a push too. She smiled and said “Yes!” I soon had her feet soaring towards the clouds while she laughed happily. For the next two hours I found myself pushing swings and playing tag with my son, daughter, and the other little girl. By the time we headed home, I was physically exhausted, but my spirits was still flying higher than those swings.

One day, I was exhausted again after a long day’s work. Still, I needed to pick up my kids from the local grade school before heading home. I stood wearily in the parents’ waiting area watching for my children. Suddenly, I felt two tiny arms wrap around my stomach. I looked down and there was the little girl from the playground smiling up at me. She gave me one more big hug before heading off to catch her school bus. As I watched her back, I didn’t feel quite so tired anymore and my spirits were once again soaring in the Heavens.

10 years later, something terrible happened to me.

I was so excited to hear that.

2 . I was never very neat. Yet, when I arrived at college, my roommate didn’t seem to appreciate my ________.

I am not sure why they stuck us together. Kim was ________ all the time. She ________ everything and each item she owned had its place. We were always having a hard time with each other. She would be mad at my dirty clothes and I would ________ about the headaches from washing powder. She would push my clothing over to one side and I would lay one of my books on her ________ desk.

However, it all came to an end one late evening and I didn’t even know why we had both returned to each other’s________. When the phone rang, she picked it up and I could tell from her end of the conversation that her father was ________ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled under her covers (被子) and I could hear her quiet ________. Though I didn’t mean for it to happen, I could feel the warm feelings of ________ rising up in my heart. It was something that no girl should ________ alone. What to do? I smiled as I got the idea.

Slowly, I began to clear up my side of the room. I took back the ________ I had set on her desk. I got so ________ in my work that I didn’t even notice Kim had come out from under the covers. She was watching my every move, with dried tears and expression of disbelief. When I was finally done, I went and sat at the end of her bed. Her hand was warm as it ________ over to grasp mine. I looked up into Kim’s eyes and she smiled at me.

________, Kim and I stayed roommates for the rest of that year and we became closer. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we learned the ________ to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.