1 . Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia (栀子花) was _________to my house. But no card or note came with it. Calls to the flower shop were always _________— it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just _________in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper.

But I never stopped _________who the giver might be. My mother _________to these imaginations. She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing _________. I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had a _________on me even though I didn’t know him.

One month before my high-school graduation, my father died. My feelings _________from sorrow to fear and anger: my dad was _________some of the most important events in my life. I became completely __________in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball. But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things. Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the __________size. When my father died, I forgot about the dress.

The day before my ball, I found that dress — in the right size — hanging over the living room sofa. It was __________to me so lovingly. I didn’t __________if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did. She wanted her children to feel __________, filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of __________.

My mother died ten days after I was married. The following year the gardenia stopped coming.

2 . One of my happiest moments was when my longest friend invited me to be in her wedding. I was pretty delighted and ________ . Katie and I have known each other since she was born, but she is a very ________ and generous person who has made many friends in the last 20 years. I agreed and the wedding was ________ in October.

Several months before the wedding, Katie made a special ________ -she asked me to bring beloved toy, a lamb from our ________ , to the wedding so we could recreate a special photo. When Katie and I were young, my mother ________ two lambs in a gift shop and she got them for us. We’ve had them ever since, and they were the ________ of our friendship.

When she asked me to bring my lamb, it ________ me that I hadn’t seen it for years. I had the whole family help search for it, but had no ________ . It was August, and I only had two months before the wedding. I ________ my options and decided I wasn’t ________ to admit to Katie that I’d lost something precious. Many times I would have ________ my courage to tell her about that but I still ________ the matter.

Finally, Katie’s wedding arrived. The first thing she asked me when she saw me was ________ I had brought my lamb. She just looked so excited. I ________ deeply and admitted my whole family had spent days looking for it, but it hadn’t ________ . I told her I was absolutely ________ . She gave me a hug and said she was sorry for my loss. I held Katie tight, knowing I will have the ________ friend. Eventually, we recreated the photo, using just her lamb.

I’m impressed that Katie has ________ to hold on to hers for so long. Her wedding day was not only a beautiful celebration of her and her husband’s love, but it also felt like a wonderful ________ that a lifelong friendship can make you feel great, even years later.

3 . Last Friday, Emma, my 11-year-old, decided to thank our local mailman Doug, for the service he provides for us.

Usually, a letter from her is likely to _________ some art, a joke or two, a mention of her younger brother, her cat… So, in her note to Doug, she _________ nothing out. “Dear sir, I’m Emma… Thank you for taking my letters and _________ them. You are very _________ to me. I make people happy with my letters, but you do, too.” Emma wrote. That afternoon, Doug took it when she smiling _________ it which was enough to him.

Saturday, Doug _________ at our house with a thank-you note. Then two days later, an unexpected package, full of _________ and letters from Doug’s colleagues in USPS _________ with him again.

To our amazement, these letters are so deeply human, filled with family _________, pets… and an overwhelming sense of __________. A Tracy wrote “Your letter __________ made a difference! Not many understand how hard we work…” Another, “I work alone here. And you __________ me of my son of your age…” Some Michael, to inspire Emma to start collecting stamps, even sent two special ones from his __________ while the rest were mailed for her to write back or to others.

With dozens of __________ pen-pals, Emma did what she does best. She wrote the dad. She wrote his son… She shared her time to give others the one thing they need to be well-human __________.

4 . My father and I have always had a difficult relationship. He thought I wasn’t what a good daughter should be. Whatever I did was never good enough in his eyes. So when I tried to look for approval, I was _______ disappointed.

My mother was gentler and when my father would _______ me, she’d have my back. Five years ago, she died from a disease and, _______ her there, my relationship with my father became _______. I felt like he was trying to control me and this caused _______ and panic in me. I realized that I couldn’t continue the _______ with him, so I left home eventually and _______ contact with him.

About a year later, I was out campaigning and I saw him alone. I _______ him and asked how he was. He was hesitant, but I could see in his eyes that he was _______ I’d come over. He said he was proud that he had a daughter who went to the House of Lords to talk about women’s rights. I realized that, having decided I didn’t need his ________, I finally had it.

Our relationship isn’t ________ now, but we see each other every few months and I value the time we have together. Last year, on his birthday, I sent him a card and he ________ phoned me to say thank you. I’ve realized that if you want to have somebody in your life, you have to ________ them as who they are. And I’m proud of myself. I don’t need anybody else to give me that sense of ________. And because of that, our relationship is no longer a ________.

5 . I was cleaning out a cupboard the other day when I made an amazing discovery. Inside I _________ the manuscript (手稿) for a novel. It included an outline of the _________ and a pile of typed pages telling a story. It was written, to my _________, by my father who has been dead for more than 50 years. It isn’t _________, as novels go, perhaps fifty or sixty typed pages, but without my _________ it has somehow accompanied me through my years of _________, several jobs, a marriage, the birth of my children and grandchildren, retirement and even a relocation across the country where I live.

Yet there it was, resting under a lot of paper to be recycled. I might have _________ my father’s legacy (遗产). I was truly _________ by my discovery.

I’m in the middle of reading another book _________ my dad’s novel has a place on my bed-side table. I want to have some __________ time for it so I haven’t __________ examined it yet. I’m going to spend a whole afternoon to give it the __________ it deserves. As yet I don’t know what the story line is about and I don’t even know if it is complete but I __________ a highly emotional process of finding out.

I find it fascinating to think that this could happen; that after more than fifty years my father could __________ his only son through the mists of time. It’s one of those things that we don’t see coming and that make life so __________.

6 . For my daughter's 19th birthday, we bought her tickets to go and see Linkin Park, as they were playing in our city. We didn't really have the ________ but we knew how much this band meant to her.

The night before she was like a ________ at Christmas. Every so often she got up and came to ________ with us, because she couldn't ________ . On the night of the concert it was good to see her so ________ and excited, as she and her boyfriend set off.

Needless to say when they ________ after midnight, with T-shirts and lots of pictures of the band, ________ her telling about how fantastic they had been, we knew the money had been well ________ . This will be a memory she would never forget, and nor would we.

________ full of excitement from the night before, the following day they ________ to go shopping on the other side of the city. My husband and I laughed, loving the fact that she had not ________   that quality as she grew up.

Later that day they returned, with faces full of happiness and warmth. They presented my husband and me with a ________ each. On each present were the words "Because you are the ________ mum/dad in the world. "When we expressed our thanks and told her she didn't have to, we asked her why she had bought us gifts. Her answer was simply "Just because I love you."

This wasn't something ________ from our daughter; she had always given us gifts when she wanted to express her ________ , and each gift was always a welcome surprise. It could have been anything, it wouldn't have mattered, and it was the act itself and the feelings behind it.

7 . Brandy? I didn’t recognize the name, but I opened the email anyway. “I’m sorry it took us so long to _________, but this year since my father died has been _________.” Brandy wrote.

I realized who Brandy was. Her father had been my nameless _________. One year earlier, I injured my _________ and went through an operation. A nurse told me that my donor passed away. “But some people like to send a thank-you letter to the family through the hospital,” she explained.

I chose my words _________, telling them how _________ I was to the donor and how very sorry I was for their _________. I sent the letter, but didn’t _________ an answer, especially not a whole year later.

Brandy and I kept in touch via Facebook. There I learned more about her father, Larry. She _________ him as a person who made everyone’s day __________. “And he just loved country music,” she said. “It was his __________ thing in the world.” “I love country music too!” I said. Lately I’d been remembering how much I enjoyed it when I was a little kid. “My dad loved to sing,” said Brandy. “He was really out-going. You __________ me of him. It seems like __________ that you got his tissue.”

We laughed about that. The more I __________ about Larry, the more I thought we would have been friends if we’d ever met. That operation hadn’t just repaired my knee, but had __________ an old joy in me I’d thought was gone forever.

8 . In a class many years ago, the teacher gave us the “unpardonable”—the class homework! The _______ was to go to someone you love and tell them you love them. _______ it doesn’t sound like a very tough assignment, I realized that I was _______ the generation of men who were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho” (男子气概的).

You see, five years ago, my father and I had a _______ disagreement and we _______ seeing each other unless it was Christmas or other family _______. But by the time I got home I had convinced myself I was going to tell my father I loved him. It’s weird, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load _______ my chest. So I rushed home to tell my wife my plan. When I told her, she hugged me, and for the first time in our married life she saw me cry.

The next morning, I went to the office early and _________ more in two hours than I had the whole day before. At 9:00 I called my dad, “Dad, can I _________ tonight?” My dad responded with a(n) __________ tone, “Now what?” At 5:30, I was at my parents’ house ringing the doorbell, __________ that Dad would answer the door. I was ________ if Mom answered that I would chicken out and tell her instead.

But luckily, Dad did answer the door. I took a deep breath to __________ myself and said, “Dad, I just came over to tell you that I love you.” It was as if a transformation came over my dad. His face ________, the wrinkles seemed to disappear and he began to cry. He hugged me tightly and said, “I love you, too, son.”

Two days after that visit, my dad, who had heart problems, but didn’t tell me, had a heart attack and ________ in the hospital, unconscious. I don’t know if he’ll make it. So my message to all of you is this: Don’t wait to go to someone you love and tell them you love them and do it now!

9 . Earlier that evening, my mother called, telling me that my brother died in a car crash. I stumbled (跌跌撞撞地走) around the house _________ what to put into the suitcases. My husband, Larry, and I had been packing for moving to New Mexico. The house was in (a) total _________.

I tried to hold my tears. I _________ picked things up and put them down. I couldn't _________. What I'd heard on the phone echoed (回荡) through my head.

Larry phoned a few friends. _________, someone asked to speak to me. “If there is anything I can do, let me know.” “Thank you,” I replied. I didn't know what to _________.

The doorbell rang and I rose slowly for the door. It was Donna.

“I've come to clean your shoes,” she said. _________, I asked her to repeat. “When my father died, it took me _________ to get the shoes cleaned and shined for my father's _________,” she said. I hadn't even thought about shoes.

Shoes were gathered. Donna __________ herself on the floor and got to work. The love in the act __________ my tears. Watching her __________ on one task helped me pull my __________into order. Laundry first, I told myself. One by one, the jobs fell into place.

Now whenever I hear of an acquaintance's loss of a loved one, I think of one __________ task that suits that person's __________. If the person asks, “How did you know I needed that?” I'd reply, “Because someone did that.”

10 . What makes a home? Love and sympathy and confidence. It is a place where kindly _______ exist among all the members of the family. The parents take good care of their children, and the children are interested in the _______ of their parents. Thus, all of them are _______ together by affection, and they find their home to be a _______ place in the world.

But for me, sometimes I can't feel the love from my father and can't feel the warmth of the home. _______ happen between us frequently.

“BANG” the door caused a protest. “Never _______ this house again!” shouted Father. With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the house and ran along the street.

A young father who held a child in his arm walked _______ me. I felt as if I saw my _______ from another space: happy and harmonious.

But now I don't know _______ it is because I have grown up or because Dad is getting ________. We are just like two people coming from two different worlds. It feels like there is an iron ________ between us that can never be opened.

I wandered the streets, ________ a destination in my mind. My heart was ________ on this hot summer night. As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people in the streets, until I had only streets to keep me company. When I finally reached the high rise apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still ________.

I thought to myself, “Is Father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?” After a long hesitation, I opened the door and instantly tears ran down my cheeks. I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had ________ between us did not exist at all because love is second to none.