1 . I had not hugged a friend or a family member for more than two years.

I hadn’t had that ______ until recently when my sister-in-law came for a brief visit. For everyone’s safety, we met outside. Despite the ______ weather in January, her hug warmed me from the inside out. I realized how much I ______ embracing loved ones — the warmth that ______ long after our arms untwined (松开).

There was war in my home town in Bosnia, so I found every moment was full of ______. On one peaceful morning, I begged my mom to let me go outside after weeks wilting (蔫) indoors. She ______ agreed. I was outside for only 10 minutes ______ I was caught in an explosion. I ______ to my neighbor’s house for safety and threw my arms around her neck while my legs were ______ underneath me. She hugged me with both arms and ______ me into her house. I was still in her arms when the ambulance arrived.

______, I made a full physical recovery, but the emotional ______ never left me. Years later there was another explosion near my house, when my father was away to buy a loaf of bread. When he came back inside, I gave him the biggest hug ______, choked in tears as I held him tight.

That same night my parents managed to arrange my escape from our war-torn city. They desperately wanted at least some of my childhood to be ______. I was 16 and came to America on my own. A generous host family took me ______. Over next several months, I suffered ______.   The only way I shared my feelings was by giving Oscar, their dog, a big ______.

Now, due to our pandemic lives, hugging a stranger is the ______ thing on our minds. For many of us, ______ hugging a relative or a friend comes with stress and anxiety because of risks and precautions (防范). I ______ that in the not-so-distant future we can safely hold one another again, a friend, relative, or a stranger.

2 . When a man lies in a chair in a barbershop with a steaming, hot towel across in his face, he relaxes. Going to the barbershop is a great opportunity for men to gather and _________ life stories. Men walk out feeling great _________ spending just an hour in this community setting and taking time for_________.

Lorenzo Lewis considers that the barbershop is one of the few safe spaces where men feel _________ to express their feelings openly. In 2016, Lewis _________ The Confess Project, a community-led project that trains barbers as mental health advocates after years of struggling with his own mental health. It mainly reaches out to men who may be _________ to receive therapy (心理治疗) because it means opening up to a stranger in a clinical setting.

Matt Dillion, who owns a barbershop that _________ The Confess Project, explained why he _________ that the barbershop is the _________ place for men to open up. “This is our ‘country club’. There is fellowship (交情), and there’s that wonderful __________ when you’re around guys that have been through what you’re going through.”

Speaking about one’s __________ and being listened to in an accepting way greatly __________ mental health. A study shows that when people share their feelings, they __________ to have strong immune systems.

The barbers support their clients in the moment, __________ trust and opening a pathway for communication. They encourage their __________ to seek support from therapists and other mental health professionals if necessary.

3 . During the last few years of his life my Dad lived just up the road from me in a tiny home that used to _______ my Nana. He had been a widower for over 20 years by then, _______ my Mom when she was only 55 years old. Recently his Mom, my Nana had _______ too. He just lived with himself and spent a lot of time _______.

Several times a week, though, I would take a walk up to his _______. We would sit in the living room or on the front porch, sip tea and talk. It wasn’t anything _______. We just talked sports, gardening, weather and occasionally _______ a laugh over old memories. It was a simple sharing a real _______ between a father and a son, an hour spent just enjoying each other’s _______. Those afternoons ________ some of my happiest times ________ with my Dad. It allowed us to gently ________ any old wounds we had given each other when I was ________. It allowed us to ________ give each other the time and love we hadn’t before. It ________ us with sweet chances to grow closer together ________ he left this world. And I thank God for that time.

I know too that when my own time in this world is done, when my own ________ on Earth is finished I will get to spend another afternoon with Dad. And we will make that afternoon last an eternity.

If there is one thing that I ________ from those afternoons I spent with my Dad during the last years of his life, it is this: It is ________ too late to spent time with those you love and tell them that you love them. Because love ________ anything, even death. Begin today then! Spend an afternoon with those you love and those afternoons will become a lifetime.